Nature And Landscape

Derbyshire Dales Swift Project: ‘Keeping Swifts in our landscape for future generations’

Our goal is to prevent Swifts disappearing from our landscape. One major factor causing Swift decline is the ongoing loss of suitable nest sites, as building repair, renovation and replacement gradually results in the loss of access to nest sites within the fabric of buildings. We will work to address the reduction in nest sites in two main ways: 1) identify the location of existing nest sites and ensure they are protected 2) supplement natural sites with artificial nests in the form of Swift bricks or boxes, to provide a supply of suitable nest sites for Swifts on existing and new buildings. Our aim is to promote Swift conservation in the Derbyshire Dales, by 1) providing data to support decision making 2) conserving and increasing nest site availability 3) development and implementation of a conservation model that can be up-scaled and applied elsewhere on a local and regional scale.