Registered
- Charity no. 110766
- Company no. 728378
- Date registered. 16/09/2025
Public benefits
The direct benefits flowing from all the charity’s purposes are as follows: monitoring and striving to maintain healthy populations of birds, other fauna and flora has an important part to play in the global effort to reverse biodiversity loss. Supporting the conservation of, and directly conserving, a diverse range of birds, fauna and flora is
essential to ensure our ecosystems, food chains and climate are regulated for the benefit of the general public and future generations. Mental and physical health benefits are also enjoyed by the general public and volunteers who partake in bird ringing, fauna and flora monitoring and the habitat management activities Copeland Bird Observatory (CBO) undertakes. Educational outreach, ornithological and habitat management activities also provide a sense of community and wellbeing to CBO volunteers and raise the skills and knowledge of volunteers, researchers, students and the general public particularly in relation to ornithology and conservation. CBO's direct public benefits can be demonstrated by: The continued recording of the populations and biometrics of breeding and migratory birds on Copeland Bird Observatory (CBO) sites as evidenced in survey and research works carried out, or supported by, CBO. The utilisation of CBO data by organisations such as the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland (DAERA) to aid in the creation of conservation policies. The continued designation of [Old] Lighthouse Island as part of an Area of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Area by DAERA. The recovery of ringed birds to aid researchers in Universities and the BTO to help inform and produce solutions to protect their populations. Monitoring and control of invasive species to support biodiversity on [Old] Lighthouse Island, specifically the continued absence of introduced mammalian predators e.g., rodents and the control of invasive bracken. There is no harm arising from any of the charity's purposes. The charity’s beneficiaries are the general public/mankind. A private benefit flowing from the charity's purposes is that gained by passenger boat operators who transport volunteers and visitors to [Old] Lighthouse and Mew Islands. This private benefit is incidental and necessary as Copeland Bird Observatory cannot carry out its charitable purposes without boat transport to these sites.
What your organisation does
Established in 1954, Copeland Bird Observatory (CBO) is an accredited Bird Observatory and a nature conservation charity that engages in programmes of bird ringing, bird recording by observation, nest recording, fauna and flora recording, habitat management, biosecurity checking, building maintenance works, and public awareness, to conserve birds,
improve and protect the environment and advance ornithological and scientific education for the benefit of the public and future generations. CBO primarily carries out its activities on [Old] Lighthouse Island, one of the outer Copeland Islands at the mouth of Belfast Lough, designated as an ‘Area of Special Scientific Interest’ and a ‘Special Protection Area’ by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland. Alongside the annual reporting of CBO’s environmental data to statutory bodies, conservation programmes developed and implemented by CBO supports the maintenance of these designations. Species monitored by CBO include many of Northern Ireland’s threatened or vulnerable breeding bird species such as Manx Shearwater, Arctic Tern, Herring Gull, Black Guillemot, Stock Dove, Puffin, and Eider; seasonal migrants such as Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Redpoll, Meadow Pipit, Cuckoo, Merlin, Hen Harrier, and Short-eared Owl are also monitored. Additionally long-term records on lepidoptera, marine mammals (seals and cetaceans), lichens and liverworts, and higher flora are collected and submitted to specialist organisations to inform conservation management strategies.
The charity’s classifications
- The advancement of education
- The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
- The advancement of environmental protection or improvement
- The advancement of animal welfare
Who the charity helps
- General public
How the charity works
- Advice/advocacy/information
- Community development
- General charitable purposes
- Research/evaluation