Restoring White-tailed Eagles to Wales Study

A study to assess the feasibility of re-establishing a breeding population of White-tailed Eagles within Monmouthshire, Newport, and the South Wales coast, restoring what was once part of Wales’ biodiversity, culture, and heritage prior to their extinction in the early 19th Century. Recent research has identified White-tailed Eagles as a key missing component of marine and freshwater ecosystems in Wales.

If this study corroborates work to date in showing that the region is viable to restore White-tailed Eagles, wider efforts will bring a magnitude of regional benefits, including bilingual community and stakeholder education programmes, developing new experiences to diversify tourism provisions (i.e., feeding, observation, information platforms) and to support and extend regional tourist interests through this showstopping species (i.e., birdwatching, walking etc.), helping to bolster the local economy.

European efforts to restore White-tailed Eagles has evidenced the wider benefits this species brings to regional conservation, ecosystems, and tourism. A White-tailed Eagle restoration programme in Wales would not only be of Welsh, but UK and European importance to the conservation of this species. The Wye Valley & Severn Estuary are recognised as internationally important areas for wildlife and preliminary studies indicate the region supports an abundance of suitable breeding habitat for White-tailed Eagles (c.3,552.7 km²) - with 41% of suitable habitat situated within Monmouthshire and 16.3 % in Newport. The reintroduction of White-tailed Eagles to these regions would help showcase and contribute to Wales’s progressive stance towards biodiversity and ecosystem restoration.