Two wildlife enthusiasts donning homemade puppet costumes of curlews conquered the Yorkshire three peaks to raise £10,000 for World Curlew Day.
Matthew Trevelyan and his partner Clare Tangle, joined by 35 others, completed on Sunday the gruelling 24-mile hike in just over nine hours whilst wearing 3m long curlew costumes, who they named Cathy and Heathcliff, after the Wuthering Heights characters.
They did so to celebrate and raise money for this iconic countryside species whose population has halved in the past 25 years and is now in the Red List on the UK Conservation Status Report.
Matthew said: “Curlews are very charismatic birds, who have the power to unite people.
“Many other birds are attractive in their nature, but the curlew’s call can affect your heart profoundly – it’s just a glorious bird.”
The UK holds around a quarter of the world’s breeding population of curlews, which makes this specie’s conservation particularly important in Britain.
Their breeding habitat is open landscapes such as moorlands, grasslands and hay meadows, but their breeding success has been profoundly impacted by intensive farming, wetland drainage, disturbance and climate change.
Curlews are known as an umbrella species, which means that by protecting this species one is also addressing the conservation of the wider habitat it occupies and will indirectly help many other species that live in the same ecosystem.
Matthew, who grew up on a traditional sheep farm and now works for the Nidderdale National Landscape, believes that we need to rethink the way land is used and food is grown to allow for humans to coexist with wildlife.
During the walk Matthew and Clare were joined by several other hikers who shared a love for the countryside, from a few grandmas to the youngest participant who had only recently turned one.
The aim of the campaign is to rise £10,000, or £1 for each chick that needs to fledge the nest this summer to achieve a stable UK population.
“I am aware of how tough it is for people right now with the cost of living crisis”, Matthew said. “So all I’m asking is for everyone who likes this project to contribute just one pound if they can’t do more, and each pound will go directly to help these birds.”
The walk was just the first of several events that Matthew will be taking part in this week to celebrate World Curlew Day, which takes place every year on April 21st.
So far he has raised £5127 but he hopes to reach the target by the end of the week, after taking a day trip to London and introducing Cathy the curlew to MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
The funds raised by the end of the week will be entirely donated to two charities very close to Matthew, the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, who does a lot of direct action to increase the breeding success of curlews in the north-west, and Curlew Action, who works at a wider level in Britain and Europe.
Matthew already completed a similar challenge last year, hiking 53 miles carrying his Cathy costume across the Nidderdale landscape.
When asked about plans for next year his partner Clare said: “We want to spread the love for these birds and we would like to take this further.
“Maybe there will be a whole parade, or flock, dressed as curlews.”
Follow this link for the Just Giving campaign.
Featured Image: Cathy the giant curlew as she faces a steep ascent, by Greta Santagata
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