Why the curlew belongs on Britain’s next banknotes

The Cotswolds is one of Britain’s most cherished landscapes rolling limestone hills, ancient

hedgerows, wildflower meadows and quiet rivers. Few sounds define it more than the

curlew, whose cascading call carries across the ground at dawn.

But the curlew is in crisis. Over the past 40 years its numbers have collapsed, and since

2015 it has been on the UK’s red list of highest conservation concern. The farmed lowlands

it depends on for nesting have been drained, built on, flooded and stripped of the grassland

needed to raise its young. In too much of England its call has already fallen silent.

That is exactly the kind of challenge the Evenlode Landscape Recovery Project is trying to

meet. Led by farmers, it spans more than 3,000 hectares across over 50 farms in

Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Over the next 20 years, ELR aims to restore

habitats across the Evenlode catchment, improve soil health and revive waterways while

keeping food production at the heart of the landscape.

None of this happens without partnership. ELR is backed by Defra’s Environmental Land

Management scheme and private investment alike. It is this blended finance model which

gives farmers a practical way to deliver landscape recovery at scale.

Now another blend of nature and finance is coming into view. For the first time in more than

50 years, the images on Bank of England banknotes will move away from historical figures

and towards wildlife. The public has until 3 July to help choose the species, and the curlew is

on the shortlist.

The curlew may not be the best-known name on that list, but it represents something many

of the other candidates do not: the working farmed landscape that covers around 70% of the

UK. It is a bird that has lived alongside British farmers for generations. To choose the curlew

is to say that this country values its countryside, the people who work it and the species that

depend on it.

The consultation closes on Thursday 3 July 2026.

Vote at:

Help ELR put the curlew on the banknote and in doing so back the living countryside it represents.

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