Bird Aware Solent presented with ORN Success Award 2025 for Best Project for Protecting Nature and Responsible Access

The ORN Success Awards celebrate leadership, innovation and best practice across the outdoor recreation sector. The Best Project for Protecting Nature and Responsible Access category highlights projects that demonstrate how people and nature can thrive together. This award recognises projects that successfully balance environmental protection with public access, demonstrating leadership in responsible recreation, behaviour change and nature recovery.

Winner: Bird Aware Solent

Supporting responsible access to nature along the Solent coastline

Bird Aware Solent is a standout example of how long-term partnership working, evidence-led behaviour change and positive engagement can protect sensitive habitats without restricting access to nature.

The Solent is one of the UK’s most heavily visited coastal landscapes, welcoming around 52 million recreational visits each year. Its 254 km coastline includes three Special Protection Areas (SPAs) that support approximately 125,000 migratory birds annually. With significant housing growth forecast across the region, pressure on these internationally important sites is only increasing.

The challenge

Research showed that it was not the volume of visitors alone, but how people behaved, that posed the greatest risk to coastal bird populations. The challenge for Bird Aware Solent was therefore to reduce wildlife disturbance while maintaining equitable public access, ensuring people could continue to enjoy the coast for recreation, health and wellbeing.

The solution

Established in 2016, Bird Aware Solent is a strategic mitigation partnership involving 14 Local Planning Authorities, one County Council and four conservation organisations, funded through developer contributions under the Habitats Regulations.

Its approach places behaviour change science at the core, combining multiple, mutually reinforcing interventions:

– A dedicated ranger team engaging directly with coastal users to explain the importance of bird-sensitive areas and promote wildlife-aware behaviours.

– Coast and Country Canines, a positive dog-walking initiative providing routes, guidance and resources to help dog owners enjoy nature responsibly.

– Targeted capital investment to improve access to less sensitive areas, reducing pressure on vulnerable habitats.

– A strong, consistent communications and interpretation programme, including signage, digital content, events and education.

In 2025, the partnership began implementing a Revised Strategy, reflecting evolving best practice and learning from its independent reviews.

Outcomes and impact

Over the last two financial years alone, Bird Aware Solent has:

– Delivered 983 ranger site visits, speaking directly with 14,358 people.

– Reached a further 13,831 people through 198 community events.

– Engaged many more through education programmes and digital platforms.

– Approved £1.1 million of capital funding for access and mitigation projects, creating inclusive routes, alternative greenspaces and improved visitor experiences that actively deflect pressure from sensitive coastal sites.

Judges were particularly impressed by the scale, longevity and strategic coherence of the project, and its success in demonstrating that protecting nature and enabling access are not competing goals, but can be achieved together through positive, evidence-led engagement.

One of the judging panellists, Taz Hansford (National Trust Outdoor Access, Paths & Trails ED Manager and ORN Executive Committee Member) said

“The judges were impressed by the project’s clear understanding of the challenges it needed to address, its informed and well-designed solutions, and its strong use of monitoring and evaluation to shape future delivery. Bird Aware Solent exemplifies best practice in protecting nature while planning for increased recreational pressure.”