URGENT: Help save a Swift nesting site

A long-established swift nesting site is at risk and we urgently need your help.

At the Pound Road (Banstead) swift colony, a newly installed flue pipe has been positioned directly in front of an active swift nesting entrance, blocking access to a site these incredible birds have reportedly used successfully for many years.

This issue was identified and raised by the brilliant local conservation group Banstead Swifts, whose dedicated volunteers have worked tirelessly to monitor, protect, and advocate for swifts in the area. Without groups like Banstead Swifts, many nesting sites - and the birds that depend on them —- would simply go unnoticed and unprotected.

Swifts are one of Britain’s fastest declining birds.

They travel thousands of miles from Africa every year to return to the exact same nesting sites - only to increasingly find them gone, blocked, or destroyed. The loss of nesting spaces is one of the main reasons their populations are collapsing across the UK.

And now it is happening again.

Banstead Swifts said on Sunday they saw a Swift collide with the pipe, fall, then return and try to access the nest between the pipe and brickwork. They’ve seen no nest entries since.

What makes this especially frustrating is that this situation appears entirely avoidable.

The flue pipe could reportedly be repositioned relatively easily, restoring access to the nest and protecting this important breeding site.

We are urging Raven Housing Trust to act immediately and demonstrate genuine commitment to wildlife protection and biodiversity by moving the flue pipe before this nesting site is lost.

Please take a moment to sign our petition to Raven Housing Trust politely and respectfully asking them to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Every nesting site matters. Every pair matters. And if we continue allowing sites like this to disappear, we will continue watching swifts vanish from our skies.

Thank you for standing up for swifts.