Coo! £3,000 for 12 Days of Christmas dove

Naturalist Jonny Rankin, of Bury St Edmunds, gave a of more than £3,000 to a research project on turtle doves, after walking 300 miles from RSPB Lakenheath Fen to Saltholme through the whole length of the threatened bird’s range in the ‘Dove Step’ initiative.

Turtle doves have declined more than 90 per cent since the 1970s.

Fundraising efforts like these help support the vital conservation work of Operation Turtle Dove, a partnership between the RSPB, Conservation Grade, Pensthorpe Conservation Trust and Natural England, aimed at improving the status of turtle doves breeding in the UK.

Immediate releaseThis year Operation Turtle Dove was able to employ two full time turtle dove advisers, who gave advice to farmers and landowners on providing habitat for the birds on over 15,000 hectares of land, an area larger than Bristol.