Archive Hour

A Feather in Their Cap

Saturday 10 June 2006 20:00-21:00 (Radio 4 FM)

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is the largest bird conservation charity in the world. It owns 196 reserves, covering 340,000 acres in the UK, it has over a million members and it was founded well over 100 years ago.

The beginnings were small if not humble. A group of well-to-do ladies and gentlemen in Manchester and South London set up the Society in 1889 as a protest against the plume trade for fashion.

The Society for the Protection of Birds gained Royal charter in 1904.

In 1930, the RSPB bought the first of its reserves - Cheney's Court on Romney Marsh. In 1988 it broke all records with the purchase of 34,000 acres of Abernethy Forest in Scotland.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds is now turning its attention, vast knowledge and resources to helping to protect internationally endangered birds and their habitats.

Ken Clarke MP, a keen birdwatcher, charts the rise and rise of the RSPB and the increasing popularity of birdwatching across the British Isles.

Related links: The RSPB

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