Finnish Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project celebrate its 30th anniversary.
The Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project of WWF Finland celebrated its 30th anniversary in a seminar in the Liminka Bay Visitor Centre on Saturday 1 November 2014. The abstract publication of the seminar (mostly in Finnish) can be downloaded here».
The spring monitoring of LWfG on the Finnish Bothnian Bay coast, initiated by the project in 1985 and conducted annually since then, is the longest time series available of the development of the LWfG population. Since 1998, the Finnish project and the Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project of NOF-BirdLife Norway have joined forces as the Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose project. The Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation project has had an important role in the international conservation efforts for the species. As a result of 30 years of conservation work, the Fennoscandian LWfG population, that was continuously declining until 2010 to the verge of extinction, now shows a promising increase.
In the seminar, Mr. Juha Markkola who initiated the project in early 1980’s was awarded the golden badge of merit by BirdLife Finland.
Total number of spring staging Lesser White-fronted Geese on the Finnish Bothnian Bay coast in 1985–2014. Source: WWF Finland/Finnish LWfG conservation project.
3 November 2014 by Petteri Tolvanen, Fennoscandian LWfG conservation project
Illegal egg collection in Finland
A court case is now starting in a district court in Finland, involving the largest illegally obtained egg collection in Finland. An egg collector had 8000 eggs of wild birds when the customs searched his apartment in 2011. The prosecutor demands a penalty of 1.5 years imprisonment and a damage claim of appr. 600 000 Euros. According to news by YLE, among the species in the collection is also an egg clutch of Lesser White-fronted Goose. For the LWfG, the penalty in Finland is roughly 6000 Euros per egg. In light of the critically endangered situation of the Lesser White-fronted Goose in the Nordic countries, this is really bad news since there obviously is a market for collection of rare and threatened species.
24 October 2014 by Fennoscandian LWfG conservation project
Identification workshop in Hungary
The third and last workshop about identification and survey of Lesser White-fronted Goose took place in Hortobágy national park in Hungary, 29 September – 3 October. This is arranged in the framework of the EU Life+ project Safeguarding the Lesser White-fronted Goose .
Twenty one (21) field teams have been trained so far from the beginning of the LIFE project. At least eight of those field teams have reported observations of LWfG in their area, many of these revealing new LWfG sites. .
Trained eyes on the ground strengthen the LWfG network and are essential for the safeguarding of this iconic goose! . We wish the new teams many successful LWfG observations in their areas! .
You can also follow the project at Facebook at Safeguarding the Lesser White-fronted Goose .
12 October 2014 by Fennoscandian LWfG conservation project
Tweet of the day, the Lesser White-fronted Goose, at BBC Radio.
Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about British birds inspired by their calls and songs. Chris Packham presents the story of the Lesser White-Fronted Goose. The Lesser White-fronted Goose is now a very rare bird in the UK, but the siting in Bristol of the BBC's Natural History Unit, owes much to this bird.
13 February 2014 by Fennoscandian LWfG conservation project
Hungarian National Action Plan published!
The Hungarian National Action Plan (NAP) for the Lesser White-fronted Goose has collected current knowledge (national and international) about the species, and describes actions required to protect the species effectively in Hungary.
Population monitoring data and other recent research shows that practically the entire Fennoscandian Lesser White-fronted Goose population concentrates in Hungary during the spring and autumn migration periods, with Hortobágy National Park as an international hot-spot. Sporadic occurrences of the species are registered all over the country at traditional goose stop-over sites during the migration and wintering periods. It is believed that these scattered single individuals or small numbers of Lesser White-fronted Geese registered in various parts of country outside Hortobágy are mostly originating from the Western main population of the species, breeding in Russia.
The NAP lists and ranks the current threats for the species in Hungary: transformation of roosting and feeding sites (critical), inadequate management of roosting and feeding sites (high), loss of the reconstruction of former roosting and feeding sites (high), agricultural disturbance (medium), hunting activity (medium), disturbance of animal origin (low), 7 uncontrolled visitors of roosting and feeding sites (low), inadequately controlled roosting and feeding sites (low), poisoning (low), genetic impoverishment (low).
The most important part of the NAP document is the part which describes relevant conservation actions to tackle the main threats for the species in Hungary. The Action Plan describes conservation actions both for the Fennoscandian and Western main population. See the full action plan here»
11 February 2014 by Fennoscandian LWfG conservation project