Natural England has approved plans to release white-tailed eagles across Exmoor National Park, clearing the way for up to 20 of the birds to be introduced over three years from this summer.

The project will be led by Forestry England and the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, with every bird fitted with a satellite tag. White-tailed eagles are the UK’s largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of up to 2.4m, and were once extinct in the UK after disappearing from Britain and Ireland by 1918.

For supporters, the decision gives fresh momentum to a species that is slowly being restored to parts of the country it once inhabited. White-tailed eagles were widespread throughout Britain and Ireland before they vanished, and the first successful reintroduction began in 1975 on the Isle of Rum in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides.

The Exmoor release also fits into a wider national effort that has already moved the birds beyond Scotland. White-tailed eagles released on the Isle of Wight seven years ago have already visited Exmoor, and the birds have expanded their territories along the south coast, a sign that the species is now pushing steadily farther south.

Natural England said the plan would let the birds “continue their spread across southern England,” while Ali Hawkins said the organisation was “committed to continuing to work with farmers and other stakeholders, to support them in adapting to this species fledging on Exmoor once again.”

That reassurance matters because the scheme remains divisive in farming communities, especially in Scotland, where some farmers say they are losing tens of thousands of pounds in livestock each year as eagles take vulnerable lambs. Ricky Rennie said that in the worst year, 2024, he estimated he lost two-thirds of his lambs to the eagles, and put his annual losses at up to £30,000.

Rennie said farmers would have to “tooth and nail” to “fight” the birds, underscoring the depth of opposition that still shadows the reintroduction effort. On Exmoor, the next stage is straightforward: the first releases are due this summer, and the project will be judged not just by whether the birds survive, but by whether the scheme can expand without repeating the same conflict that has followed it elsewhere.