The Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme, a partnership of seven organisations and over 300 dedicated volunteers, has just walked off with a top prize for best practice in environmental management. The Scottish Natural Heritage led scheme monitors the status of birds of prey in Scotland and has paved the way in developing survey and monitoring work on raptors. Pivotal to the award has been the work of the Raptor Monitoring Officer Brian Etheridge seen in the image. Fresh from publishing the second edition of the acclaimed field guide, Raptors: A Field Guide for Surveys and Monitoring, the group took first prize in the best practice section of the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management’s annual UK awards. Members of the monitoring scheme have been collecting data on numbers, distribution and breeding success for birds of prey in Scotland for the last seven years. This huge set of data enables researchers to monitor the fortunes of these important species over time in relation to changes in the environment. The Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM) awards acknowledge work to the highest standard in ecology in the UK. The Scottish group was up against fierce completion from two other UK groups but their work won out in the end. Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Minister for Environment, said: "Our birds of prey are part of our unique natural heritage. Research is vital if we are to help these magnificent creatures thrive and this award shows that Scotland’s work is leading the way here and further afield. I congratulate all those involved in this important conservation project for gaining recognition for their hard work." Professor Colin Galbraith, director of policy and advice at SNH, said: “We are very pleased to be part of the scheme which has won this prestigious award. Congratulations to all the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme volunteer specialists who spend thousands of days each year developing our knowledge of these iconic birds. With climate change and other changes potentially impacting on raptor populations we need accurate and timely information on which to base their conservation. We are extremely fortunate to have such a dedicated group of volunteers in Scotland; indeed raptors here are perhaps the most closely monitored in the world. Scotland is leading the way in high quality research into raptors and this award acknowledges that fact.” Dr Jim Thompson, IEEM's executive director said: “The IEEM Best Practice Awards 2009 attracted a wide variety of high quality entries. These awards continue to grow in stature and are becoming a yardstick for others practicing in ecology and environmental management to measure themselves against.” Des Thompson, founder chair of the Scheme, added: "I particularly want to thank Brian Etheridge, Patrick Stirling-Aird, Helen Riley and Chris Wernham for working tirelessly behind the scenes. This really is a great credit to the professionalism of everyone within the Scheme who works so hard on raptors. Well done, and thank you."

Natural Research is pleased to announce the Mike Madders Field Research Award, commencing in January 2010. The Mike Madders Field Research Award is an annual award of at least £500 made by Natural Research, Ltd. The award is open to anybody (students/amateurs/professionals) of any nationality and from any geographic location, who is conducting ecological field research. The award aims to support ecological field research that reflects Mike’s broad natural curiosity and his appreciation of high quality research, and therefore need not be bird-oriented, nor necessarily have a conservation focus. Dr Mike Madders had broad interests in wildlife and ecology, and was professionally involved with raptors and upland bird species all his working life. After working with peregrines in Cumbria he graduated to eagles in Scotland during the mid 1980s, where he was closely associated with the growing population of white-tailed sea eagles that resulted from reintroduction efforts. He later undertook studies for a variety of governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), and the University of Glasgow. Mike was particularly associated with studies on the foraging ecology and diet of hen harriers and white-tailed sea eagles, and his 1997 doctorate was on the effects of forestry on hen harriers. Mike was a founding Director of Natural Research, and Managing Director of its subsidiary, Natural Research Projects, NRP. There he specialised in devising field and analytical techniques to measure the responses of birds to windfarm developments, and designed innovative approaches to mitigating the potential impacts. Many of these techniques have been taken up as standard best practice in Environmental Impact Assessments throughout the world. Mike continued to study hen harrier behaviour in the UK and supervised studies of pallid and Montagu's harriers in Kazakhstan and India. He authored many peer-reviewed scientific papers and authored (alone or with co-authors) or published six books that popularized bird-watching in northern England and Scotland. Mike died tragically in a canoeing accident in NW Scotland in August 2009, aged 52. Full application details are now available on the Natural Research website - http://www.natural-research.org/MikeMaddersFieldResearchAward.htm. It is anticipated that the inaugural award winner will be announced in late February 2010.