RSPB Cymru is looking for farmers and landowners to help with a new project to boost the numbers of one of the countryside's best-loved birds. Volunteers have already been trained by the RSPB and will be paired up with farmers in the Dee area to work to help lapwings. They will be available to give free practical advice about the birds, their conservation and habitat needs. RSPB Cymru conservation officer, Reg Thorpe said, "Breeding lapwings are disappearing from the Welsh countryside. However, there is strong evidence that action on local farms, sometimes costing absolutely nothing, can reverse this alarming trend. "The Dee Lapwing Lifeline is the start of a new partnership between farmers and local volunteers concerned about the area's birds." Each farm taking part in the project will receive an action plan and guidance on schemes and grants such as the Tir Gofal agrienvironment scheme. Mr Thorpe said, "There were 15,000 breeding pairs of lapwing in Wales during the 1970s but this number has now fallen to 1,700." | 
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