International Single Species Action Plan for the ... - AEWA

AEWA Technical Series No. 36
6. Activities
Result 1: Mortality rates are reduced
The most important and most urgent activities under this Action Plan are those aimed at
halting the currently unsustainable (and mostly illegal) hunting pressure on Lesser Whitefronted
Geese:
1. Ensure that, in principle, hunting legislation affords adequate protection to Lesser
White-fronted Goose;
2. Ensure that sufficient human and financial resources are allocated for enforcement of
hunting legislation, and that these resources are deployed to control and manage
hunting effectively and sustainably;
3. Ensure that sufficient human and financial resources are allocated for identifying the
traditional flyway and stop-over sites, and making that flyway safe for the geese.
4. Ban goose hunting at all key sites for Lesser White-fronted Goose (as listed in Annex
3 to this Action Plan) during the period when Lesser White-fronts are usually present,
given the difficulty of reliably distinguishing goose species in flight (especially the
near impossibility of separating Greater and Lesser White-fronts, even from relatively
close range and in good light);
5. Plant lure crops to direct Lesser White-fronted Goose away from areas where hunting
pressure is known to be high and towards refuge zones;
6. As far as possible, redirect hunting from adults to juveniles in areas where Greater
White-fronts and Lesser White-fronts occur together away from key sites.
7. Implement obligatory training as outlined by the Hunting Charter of the Bern
Convention (Nov 2007) for hunters particularly in Eastern European countries.
8. Carry out an information campaign to engage local and European hunting
organisations and nature protection NGOs.
9. Upgrade level of protection from illegal hunting within existing protected areas
through training and improved enforcement.
These actions are applicable in all Range States, but especially in those countries of the
staging and wintering range where hunting pressure is known to be particularly high, e.g.
Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Ukraine.
In addition to these measures, it has been suggested that efforts should continue to establish a
safer migration route, while giving the highest possible priority to the protection needs of the
existing wild population (see Result 4 below). However, the November 2005
recommendation of the Scientific Council of the Convention on Migratory Species, combined
with the conclusions of the January 2007 AEWA Secretariat negotation mission (see pages
34–37 for details), mean that proposals have been deferred for at least three years (i.e. 2010 or
later) to enable sufficient captive-reared stock derived exclusively from wild-caught birds to
be built up.
Result 2: Further habitat loss and degradation is prevented
Measures to halt and reverse habitat loss and degradation, and to maximise positive site
management, will serve to underpin increased survival of full-grown birds achieved through
the hunting-control measures outlined above.
1. Ensure that all key sites for Lesser White-fronted Goose (breeding, staging and
wintering) are afforded appropriate protected area status at national and international
levels, including classification as Special Protection Areas in EU Member States;
International Single Species Action Plan for the Conservation of the Lesser White-fronted Goose 51