Fenland farmers are being urged to sign up to environmental stewardship and choose options that will help to boost bird numbers.

The Fenland Farmland Bird Recovery Project aims to encourage producers to take practical measures to help reverse a decline in bird populations.

The project, which highlights the benefits of environmental stewardship schemes, is being run by the RSPB.

RSPB adviser Niki Williamson said many farmers were interested in stewardship but unsure of the options – or how to access free advice and support.

“Every farmer in the Fens needs to know what their options are for Environmental Stewardship Schemes,” she said.

“We are witnessing a period of dramatic national decline in farmland birds.”

Although many local farmers strive to help struggling bird populations, the RSPB is keen that more producers secure agri-environment funding.

The project is being funded by Natural England, the government’s landscape agency.

Agri-environment project manager Alex Nichols said: “How farmers manage their land is crucial to the future of farmland birds.”

The project involves delivering face-to-face advice and agri-environment scheme support to farmers in the Cambridgeshire Fens.

It will focus on providing a well-balanced suite of land management options, paid for by existing government schemes.

The aim is to provide winter food, summer food, and nesting habitat for some of the country’s most threatened farmland birds.

Target birds will include grey partridge, turtle dove, lapwing, yellow wagtail, corn bunting and tree sparrow.

Together, these birds form the Fenland “Arable Assemblage” – bird species that have been prioritised for help by Natural England.

The Cambridgeshire Fens is one of the top three areas for farmland birds in the country for these species.