The Swift Project

The project aims to highlight the importance of conservation and biodiversity gains, by focusing on the migratory arrival and departure of the swifts in our immediate locality. The project asks our neighbours to become ‘Guardians’ of the swifts, by allowing us to install free swift boxes on their houses. These boxes were constructed from reclaimed materials. Dane Park Road, which is adjacent to our building, is unique in the local area as a focal point of swift nesting and feeding. The swifts habitually return to the road every year, capitalising on the rich feeding sites that exist on the edges of Dane Park. However, in recent years nesting sites on Dane Park Road have begun to disappear and a reduced insect population has led to dwindling numbers. In recent years swift colonies have been forced to travel further north in the UK. We believe the uniqueness of the Dane Park Rd phenomenon should be highlighted and celebrated and that the local residents should be rightly proud of their annual visitors.

There has been increased coverage, nationally, of the need to protect the swifts, as a key part of a healthy functioning ecosystem. We believe our project could be used as an example for other neighbourhoods to self-organise in this way.

Find us on the local swift network as Margate Swifts.