Knepp and Storrington Named ‘European Stork Village’

Starrington, Radolfzell. The “European Stork Villages Network” is a transboundary initiative to help address habitat loss for storks in Europe. Since 1994, the German-based EuroNatur foundation has honoured 15 villages in 15 European countries for the conservation of white storks. Knepp and Storrington will be European Stork Village no. 16.

The colony of white storks at Knepp is part of the White Stork Project, an initiative to establish a wild, breeding population in the UK. Around 20-30 white storks fly to the UK from Europe every year but, failing to find a colony upon which they depend to breed, they simply fly back to the continent. 

The Knepp colony has developed around a group of rehabilitated storks from Warsaw Zoo in Poland. The first free-flying birds hatched chicks in an oak tree at Knepp in 2020 and the colony has grown steadily since, with storks now successfully breeding with wild birds, and migrating to Morocco for winter before returning to Sussex to nest. GPS tracking is providing invaluable data on their movements. Last year, the project reached a milestone with over 50 wild chicks fledged, marking progress towards the project’s goal of 50 breeding pairs by 2030.

Knepp’s 3,500-acre rewilding project is ideal habitat for storks, with rough meadows and wetlands providing food - insects, earthworms and small mammals - and ancient oaks in which to nest. The storks use the soft, fibrous dung from Knepp’s free-roaming ponies to line their nests.

Further information:

• The White Stork Project is a collaboration between the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Cotswold Wildlife Park, Knepp Estate, Wadhurst Park and the Knepp Wildland Foundation, with vital support from volunteers assisting with bird care, public engagement, and nest monitoring. Over a thousand schoolchildren visit Knepp annually to learn about storks and rewilding. A life stork webcam transmits the breeding season of a pair of storks in an oak tree at Knepp to 10,000s of people. The project is also forging vital links along the storks’ migration route to North Africa. The public can track the movements of birds fitted with GPS trackers on an Interactive Flight Map | White Stork Project and report sightings of ringed birds as part of citizen science. Habitat loss, hunting, pesticides and powerlines put huge pressure on stork populations and conservation requires international collaboration. For more information visit: whitestorkproject.org
   
• The European Stork Villages are awarded by EuroNatur - the European Natural Heritage Foundation based in Germany - for their dedication to the protection of the white stork. Only one village per country is chosen, recognized as having special cultural and natural heritage value. Across their range the European Stork Villages embody the diversity of meadow and pastureland in Europe - from the wet meadows in the villages Čigoć, Croatia on the river Sava, or Rühstädt, Germany, on the Elbe, to the steppes and rocky outcrops of Malpartida de Cáceres in Extremadura, Spain.
   
• The town of Storrington, nearby to Knepp Estate, has a historical connection with storks dating back to its Saxon name, "Estorchestone," meaning "Abode of the Storks." Its emblem is a pair of storks. On May 5, Storrington will host its first Stork & Wildlife Revival Festival where the Parish Council will officially receive the honour of European Stork Village from EuroNatur’s ESVN representatives. 

Press contact:
Christian Stielow, EuroNatur, christian.stielow(at)euronatur.org, Tel.: 07732/927215
Laura Vaughan-Hirsch, White Stork Project, laura(at)kneppwildlandfoundation.org