Woodpecker Network was pleased to organise a workshop to discuss the monitoring and conservation of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker on 19th March 2025. Understanding the drivers and arresting the decline of the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is a nationally high conservation priority. 

The purpose of the Workshop was to bring together volunteers and professionals who have been working on the species over the last decade, update what we know about these woodpeckers and their ecology and discuss immediate plans to help them.

Attendees included representatives from Natural England, RSPB, Forest England, National Trust, British Trust for Ornithology, New Forest National Park, the Rare Breeding Birds Panel and Woodpecker Network Volunteers from Somerset, Herefordshire, Hampshire and the New Forest, Sussex, Kent and Norfolk. The Workshop was held in Brockenhurst in the New Forest and was funded by Natural England.

The presentations covered the ecology of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and studies by Woodpecker Network and others showing that breeding success has declined over the years and is now not sustainable. Reasons include lack of food, poor weather conditions, climate change and predation.

A summary of the presentations and discussions will be available later.