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The Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris

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of this goose population. At the same time, the<br />

pioneering work of Major Ruttledge laid the basis<br />

for the establishment of a network of counters<br />

in Ireland, co-ordinated by John Wilson and Dave<br />

Norriss of the Irish Forest and Wildlife Service<br />

(latterly the National Parks and Wildlife, Dúchas,<br />

<strong>The</strong> Heritage Service). <strong>The</strong> network comprises<br />

mostly Conservation Rangers supplemented with<br />

BirdWatch Ireland volunteers and collates habitat,<br />

disturbance, production data as well as organising<br />

the counts. <strong>The</strong>se counts aimed to provide<br />

an assessment of numbers at all known wintering<br />

sites at least twice a year (generally monthly<br />

throughout the season where possible) with a<br />

measure of breeding success based on a sample<br />

of the proportion of young birds of the year. This<br />

system has now been operating annually since<br />

1982/83 and generates annual population estimates<br />

and assessment of breeding success (Fox<br />

et al. 1994a, MS14).<br />

2.5 Changes in distribution and<br />

abundance since protection in 1982/83<br />

Before 1981, the <strong>Greenland</strong> <strong>White</strong>-<strong>fronted</strong> <strong>Goose</strong><br />

was legal quarry throughout its entire range.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re is little doubt that during 1950-1970, the<br />

population was suffering damaging effects of<br />

habitat loss and modification on the population<br />

as well as a considerable off-take that occurred<br />

through hunting. Birds were being captured and<br />

killed on the breeding areas, shot legally in Iceland<br />

in autumn, as well as poached illegally there<br />

in spring. Substantial numbers were shot on the<br />

wintering areas, particularly in Ireland (where<br />

this was one of the few wild goose species widely<br />

available as a quarry species).<br />

Following the first appraisal of the global distribution<br />

and abundance of the population in the<br />

1970s, conservation concern was expressed for the<br />

<strong>Greenland</strong> <strong>White</strong>-<strong>fronted</strong> <strong>Goose</strong>, particularly because<br />

of the decline in numbers in Ireland during<br />

the 1950s-1970s (Owen 1978, Ruttledge & Ogilvie<br />

1979). As a relatively long-lived bird, the <strong>Greenland</strong><br />

<strong>White</strong>-<strong>fronted</strong> <strong>Goose</strong> is sensitive to even<br />

small scale changes in annual adult survival.<br />

Limitation of the hunting kill was an obvious<br />

management response to attempt to restore the<br />

population to a more favourable conservation status.<br />

Hence, the conservation status of the subspecies<br />

was modified throughout its range, especially<br />

through protection from hunting, and in latter<br />

years, through site safeguard programmes (see<br />

Stroud 1992 for full details of protection measures).<br />

In summary, the population ceased to be<br />

legal quarry in Ireland and Scotland from 1982<br />

(although this moratorium was lifted at Wexford<br />

in the winters of 1985/86 and 1989/90 under strict<br />

bag limitation) and in Northern Ireland in 1985.<br />

<strong>The</strong> species has been protected at its only remaining<br />

regular wintering site in Wales, the Dyfi Estuary,<br />

by a voluntary shooting ban in place since<br />

1972 (Fox & Stroud 1985). In Iceland, the species<br />

remains legal quarry in autumn where 2,900-3,200<br />

geese have been shot each year (Wildlife Management<br />

Institute 1999). <strong>The</strong>re has been no significant<br />

trend in the proportion of marked birds<br />

recovered in Iceland annually since 1984 (F 15 =<br />

0.11, P = 0.74), suggesting a constant proportion<br />

have been shot over this period (mean 3.8% ± 0.40<br />

SE marked birds shot and reported in Iceland per<br />

annum). Since 1985, the population remains legal<br />

quarry in <strong>Greenland</strong> only during 15 August –<br />

30 April, extending the protection in the nesting<br />

season to spring migration as well. It is thought<br />

that currently some 100-200 geese are shot there<br />

annually (MS24).<br />

Given the high site fidelity shown by the species<br />

on the breeding, wintering and staging grounds<br />

(MS5, MS7, MS9, MS27), site safeguard is clearly<br />

an important element in any nature conservation<br />

strategy to maintain key areas and hence maintain<br />

the existing size of the population (Stroud<br />

1992). Use of the Ramsar 1% criterion for site protection<br />

has proved an effective mechanism to focus<br />

conservation priorities on the larger concentrations,<br />

but fails to protect the sites used by the<br />

smaller more vulnerable flocks that show the<br />

most dramatic declines (MS14). Nevertheless, site<br />

protection in the UK (through EEC Birds Directive<br />

SPAs, Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance,<br />

National Nature Reserves (NNRs) and<br />

Sites of Special Scientific Interest (or in Northern<br />

Ireland - Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs)<br />

cover, in whole or in part, habitats used by geese<br />

at 22 sites. <strong>The</strong> UK SPA network is anticipated to<br />

support at least 8,000 geese at 12 SPAs specifically<br />

classified for <strong>Greenland</strong> <strong>White</strong>fronts (an estimated<br />

59% of the British total and 28% of the<br />

international population in the mid-1990s; Stroud<br />

et al. in prep.). <strong>The</strong> SPAs include a state-owned<br />

NNR, Eilean na Muice Dubh/Duich Moss on Islay,<br />

the most important single roost site in the UK.<br />

This was acquired following the threat of commercial<br />

peat cutting in the 1980s (Stroud 1985;<br />

Nature Conservancy Council 1985; <strong>Greenland</strong><br />

<strong>White</strong>-<strong>fronted</strong> <strong>Goose</strong> Study 1986). Statutory pro-<br />

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