European experts warn of lost puffins due to climate breakdown

The report has warned that the majority of puffin nesting sites in western Europe are likely to be lost by the end of the century due to climate breakdown.

Other seabirds will be affected unless urgent action is taken to limit global warming, with razorbills and arctic terns forecast to lose 80% and 87% of their breeding grounds due to reduced food accessibility and prolonged periods of stormy weather.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Zoological Society of London have put together a guide to how the birds can be protected from worsening conditions, using the expertise of 80 conservationists and policymakers across 15 European countries.

The first-of-its kind guidance gives tips on how to protect 47 species that breed along the Atlantic coastline. It assesses species-specific needs and gives actions necessary to preserve each one.

It details how birds could be relocated to safer locations because climate breakdowns cause heatwaves and plummeting fish population. For example, puffins can be successfully encouraged into new breeding sites by placing model birds in them, and gulls can be drawn to manmade nesting platforms.

Henry Hkkinen, a ZSL Institute of Zoology postdoctoral fellow who led the production of the guidelines, said it is unthinkable that the Atlantic puffin, one of Europe's most treasured seabirds, could disappear from our shores at the end of the century alongside other important marine bird species.

These birds face double the challenges as they breed on land, but rely on the sea for survival, by living across these two worlds, they are essential to both ecosystems and give us a peek into the health of wildlife in otherwise hard to monitor areas of the ocean, meaning their loss would affect countless other species and their conservation. Dr Nathalie Pettorelli, a senior research fellow at the ZSL, said these seabird conservation guidelines and the process behind them provide a vital and transferable framework that can help align efforts to prioritise and implement evidence-based climate change adaptation practices to safeguard a future for the species most at risk.

The time is now to act if we want to buffer species from the impacts of climate change.