The Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris

tection measures are supplemented by nature reserves
established by non-government organisations,
such as the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds (five reserves - on Islay, Colonsay, Coll,
Loch Ken and the Dyfi Estuary).
In the Republic of Ireland, site protection is now
founded upon designation of internationally important
sites and Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs,
formerly Areas of Scientific Interest ASIs). Fifteen
actual or proposed SPAs and/or Ramsar sites, 31
NHAs and 4 additional areas covered by management
agreements in Ireland protect areas used
by all but 5 of the regularly wintering Greenland
White-fronted Goose flocks. However, the extent
of site-protection is less than the total area used
at some localities.
In Iceland, there is only one site with formal protection
used by Greenland White-fronted Geese,
but the most important staging area, Hvanneyri
Agricultural College in the west of Iceland, is
currently being negotiated as a potential reserve.
The current voluntary ban on shooting at this one
site has made this the single most important staging
area in Iceland, with up to 1,600 geese staging
in spring and probably more in autumn.
In Greenland, the Home Rule Authority announced
the declaration of five major Ramsar
wetlands of international importance in 1989,
covering some 700,000 hectares of the goose summering
areas (see Jones 1993 and Fox et al. 1994a
for full details). Based on aerial survey in 1992, it
was judged that the protected areas north of
Kangerlussuaq (including Eqalummiut Nunaat),
Naternaq, and three important areas on Disko
Island: Aqajarua-Sullosuaq, Qinguata-Kuussuaq
and Kuannersuit kuussuat together hold approximately
one fifth of the summering population.
The very important wetlands of the Svartenhuk
Peninsula have also been considered for future
designation as a Ramsar site.
With the provision of such site safeguard measures,
the population has clearly seen a recent halt
in the serious losses of habitat that it experienced
during the 19th and 20th Centuries. Nevertheless,
throughout the wintering areas, nature conservation
protection has concentrated upon protection
of the most important natural and semi-natural
habitats, as well as safe roost sites that have been
used for many years. Rarely do site management
plans include specific measures to maintain and
enhance habitat quality and quantity specifically
24
for the geese. Since Greenland White-fronted
Geese have increasingly shifted to feeding on
agricultural land on the wintering areas where
the feeding habitat is not in anyway safeguarded,
'wider countryside' conservation measures in
these agricultural areas may be appropriate to
support site safeguard of roosts in some situations.
In these circumstances, especially in the
Republic of Ireland, local management agreements
have been adopted to maintain local agricultural
conditions suitable for geese. Only in relative
few situations in Ireland have land acquisitions
by the state resulted in major reserves specifically
for White-fronted Geese. This is the case
at Wexford Slobs Wildfowl Reserve in SE Ireland,
where 470 ha of farmland have been acquired
primarily for feeding and protecting Greenland
White-fronted Geese during the winter and providing
increased public awareness through visitor
observation and interpretation facilities (Wilson
1996). There also remains considerable scope
for improving site safeguard measures in Iceland.
Following protection from hunting on the wintering
range in 1982/83, the population increased
from 16,500 in 1983 to 33,000 in 1999, although
the rate of increase has slowed in recent years.
The population increased at the rate of 6.6% per
annum until 1991/92, since when total numbers
have varied between 30,000 and 35,000, dependent
largely upon changes in breeding success. The
most dramatic increases were evident at the two
most important wintering resorts. At Wexford,
peak winter counts increased from 6,300 in 1982/
83 to 8,500 in 1999/2000 (after a maximum of
11,000 was reached in 1988/89) and Islay from
3,900 to 13,800 (after a peak of 15,400 in 1995/96
see Figure 2.2). One feature that makes flavirostris
of special interest is that different wintering
groups show very different patterns of population
change, despite the overall increase in numbers.
Wintering numbers on Islay have shown a
linear increase under protection, whilst those at
Wexford have decreased in recent years after an
initial period of increase (Figure 2.2, MS14). Other
flocks have shown less dramatic increases; from
regular counts at eight wintering sites in years
before and after protection, five sites showed no
trend before protection and significant increases
afterwards, two stabilised after protection and
one showed increasing trends before and after
protection (MS14). Seven flocks became extinct
during 1982-1995, 35 showed no significant trends
and 20 showed increases (MS14). Despite all the
conservation activity, therefore, some flocks con-