Seabird Recovery Project up for Countryfile award
The Isles of Scilly Seabird Recovery Project has been nominated for a BBC Countryfile Magazine award.
Photo by Ed Marshall
The five-year project, which finished at the end of 2017, has been recognised in the Conservation Success of the Year category.
It is up against British Divers Marine Life Rescue, the Great British Beach Clean, the Highway England Mitigation Project and the Flight of the Swans (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust).
A panel of expert judges scrutinised suggestions from readers to select five outstanding contenders in each category. The winner is chosen by public vote.
Project Manager Jaclyn Pearson told This is Scilly: "We are thrilled to be nominated for this prestigious award. Countryfile came to film us (with presenter Ellie Owen) back in 2013 at the start of the project, and they have followed our progress since.
"We have been nominated by journalist Mark Rowe who came to visit us in 2017. He heard the Manx shearwaters calling back from burrows and learnt that due to full community support the wildlife is doing well without rats. We would love to win this award, to say thank you to all the people involved. Please vote for us!"
Jaclyn is currently working on Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea with its own rat removal project.
Judge Mark Rowe said of the Scilly project: “It’s a heartwarming project, and a good tangible success story. For more than 100 years, no Manx Shearwater chicks had survived on the Isles of Scilly - but last year, 43 ‘stargazing’ chicks were recorded outside their burrows at night.”
The magazine's website said: "Huge congratulations to our finalists, it is a real achievement to make it on to the shortlist as the competition was stiff."
The public vote is open now and closes on March 5th. Vote online here.