'Human swan' receives top award

Dartmoor conservationist and adventurer Sacha Dench – the ‘Human Swan’ – has been honoured by the RSPCA for campaigning to ban lead shot to prevent the poisoning of waterbirds.

Sacha, of Chagford, well-known for flying in a paramotor among the birds, was one of a team from pressure group Lead Ammunition Collective awarded the 2026 RSPB Medal.

The RSPB’s most prestigious award honours the team, who campaigned for decades to secure legislation to phase out most lead ammunition in England, Scotland and Wales.

This change will help prevent the poisoning of hundreds of thousands of birds. The medal was announced just as legislation banning lead in ammunition became law across Europe.

The RSPB Medal went to a collective including Sacha Dench and her charity Conservation without Borders. The medal’s previous recipients include Sir David Attenborough and King Charles.

Sacha, who famously flew among migrating geese in a paramotor (a motorised paraglider) to highlight threats to them, said: “The lead poisoning work has probably been the most challenging, fascinating, bewildering and mad conservation adventures I have ever been on! But with an absolutely incredible collective of people."

In the UK, lead poisoning from spent ammunition kills up to 100,000 waterbirds yearly, with hundreds of thousands more suffering health and welfare effects.

Birds swallow pellets after mistaking them for food or grit, while 40,000 birds of prey are estimated to ingest lead in the animals they eat. The new restrictions will prevent around 7,000 tonnes of lead entering the countryside annually across Great Britain.

Sacha collaborated with other scientists and her contribution built trust between people divided over the issue. She filmed Danish hunters who supported moving away from lead in ammunition, to learn what had convinced them, bringing their experiences to other hunting communities through films, photography and public speaking.

During her high profile Flight of the Swans expedition, from the Russian Arctic to the UK, she landed and spoke with hunters across 11 countries about lead poisoning, collected and shared evidence from the public, sightings and bird autopsies she filmed, and explored the barriers to changing ammunition.

She lobbied MPs, co-presented workshops with hunters at a UN conference, and convened discussions with supermarkets wanting to sell lead-free game, country estates, swan rescue centres, and government bodies.

Sacha said: “We knew from all the science that everyone would benefit from getting rid of lead in ammunition, but didn’t agree on how to.

“Scientists had built the evidence over decades, but some people needed space to ask questions, share concerns and hear from people they trusted. Our contribution was to help the scientific evidence reach people through visuals, stories, building relationships and honest conversations.”

Professor Debbie Pain, joint campaigner, said: “The RSPB Medal honours a wide group of people and organisations, including Sacha and Conservation Without Borders. A huge thank you, Sacha, for all the work done to raise the profile of this issue. It’s been a long hard struggle to get here and you’ve done such fantastic work in the UK and internationally.”

RSPB CEO Beccy Speight said: “The lead ammunition legislation will deliver lasting benefits for wildlife, domestic animals, the environment and human health.”