This exciting five-year project started in December 2017, after a public consultation exercise supported by the Southern Uplands Partnership. The project continues going from strength to strength, with a team of 6 project staff managed by Dr Cat Barlow, delivering specialist care and monitoring of the young birds, community outreach, stakeholder engagement and admin support. The project aims ‘to reinforce the small, isolated and vulnerable population of Golden Eagles in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries & Galloway through a series of translocations over a period of 5 years, increasing numbers and preventing the loss of Scotland’s National Bird from Southern Skies.’

‘Our biggest hope is that Golden Eagles can once again thrive in the South of Scotland and that generations to come will be given the opportunity to find a place for these magnificent birds in their homeland, their heritage and their hearts.’

The project has funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, both Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway LEADER programmes and support from a wide range of partners including landowners and the conservation community, Scottish Land and Estates, RSPB Scotland, NatureScot and Scottish Forestry. The project is hosted by the Southern Upland Partnership and has recently been given an additional year’s funding from HLF.

You can read and explore more about the project’s successes here: https://www.goldeneaglessouthofscotland.co.uk/about