The National Lottery Heritage Fund has announced it will be investing a further £2.5m, and the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, managed by NatureScot, will be providing over £1.5m in additional support for the Orkney Native Wildlife Project in reaching its final phase of work.

In just five years the Orkney Native Wildlife Project has removed over six thousand stoats from the Orkney Islands. This bold and innovative nature restoration project is already seeing boosts in population numbers for the Hen Harriers, Curlews, Orkney Voles and other rare and threatened native wildlife that call the islands their home.

The project is approaching its critical final phase, having seen the stoat population grow from a first confirmed sighting in 2010 to a population that is threatening the future of native wildlife. Now, the project partners including RSPB, NatureScot and Orkney Islands Council are preparing for the final push to remove the last of the invasive stoats and protect the wildlife of the islands.