AN urgent quest to save a bird species in North Yorkshire threatened with global extinction has won support from the National Lottery.

The new scheme led by The North York Moors National Park Authority has secured £64,000 from National Lottery players to halt the dramatic decline in turtle dove numbers.

Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant, the £100,000 project will enable vital research and conservation work to be undertaken over the next three years.

The turtle dove’s decline is so dramatic that the population is halving every six years and the species may be lost as a breeding bird in the UK within the next 20-years.

Their numbers are stable in a small area of North Yorkshire, but the Park Authority says there is an urgent need to understand and enhance what the moors landscape provides the birds before this population declines too.

The worry is that local residents and visitors may lose the chance to appreciate this beautiful, evocative bird before they even realise that it is there.

The project will focus on where turtle doves have been recorded recently, principally around the forests of the southern fringe of the North York Moors National Park.

Rona Charles, ecologist officer at the National Park explained: “The North York Moors National Park Authority and our partners will guide improvements on farms, in forests, roadsides, public spaces and residents’ gardens.

“Over 300,000 people visit key centres at Sutton Bank and Dalby annually and they will learn about our Turtle Doves, the threats they face and how our efforts could prevent local extinction and contribute to conservation nationally.”

The project will be delivered by several partners including the Forestry Commission, RSPB, North and East Yorkshire Ecological Data Centre, Scarborough Borough Council and the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The input of volunteers will also be crucial as well as the support of land managers and communities.

The results of volunteer survey effort will enable the team to tailor advice to all land managers within the project area whose acreage has potential to support turtle doves.

The scheme also ties in to HLF’s natural heritage campaign, Yorkshire’s back garden, which aims to raise awareness of the region’s wildlife and help people to preserve and protect it.

According to the RSPB, the turtle dove population has plummeted 96 per cent since 1970, making it the UK’s fastest declining migrant bird.

Factors contributing to their decline include habitat loss, hunting and disease.