Northumberland residents are rightly passionate about the special environment and wildlife we’re lucky to have, and the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2023 results – the UK’s biggest citizen science wildlife survey – prove it.
934 Berwick-upon-Tweed residents took part, alongside 540,000 nature lovers nationally, and House Sparrow, Blue Tit, and Starling were the top three spotted in Berwick-upon-Tweed, part of 9m birds spotted nationally this year.
The Government and I are committed to protecting the animals who call our green island home too. As just one example, last month we announced we will consult on measures to protect some of Britain’s much-loved seabirds, including puffins and kittiwakes, which are a familiar site here in Northumberland.
As the RSPB 'Species Champion' for the kittiwake, I'm delighted at proposals to protect them by banning industrial sandeel fishing – a vital food source to vulnerable seabirds, seals and whales, and fish such as haddock and whiting.
