the Brandenburg ostrich - Landesamt für Umwelt, Gesundheit und ...

State Bird Conservation Centre41From the beginning the Great Bustard has been adominant species – a representative of the manyother animal and plant species on farmlands thatwere afflicted by the intensification of agriculture.The spectrum of tasks ranged from fundamentalwork like research and bird censuses to practicallandscape work, seminars with farmers and volunteerconservationists all the way to coordinatedefforts in conservation.Founding district work groups – for predatorybirds or mammals – helped pool voluntarycommitment. International conferences for theGreat Bustard were a sign of cooperation beyondcountry borders; two of them took place in theregion that is today Brandenburg. The focus wason questions regarding the causes of the speciesretreat and the possible counter measures thatcould be done through conservation. Even duringthe GDR period is was possible in Westhavellandand in the Belziger Landschaftswiesen to removeseveral thousand hectares from intensive cultivationand introduce extensive use. For the first timeit was possible to protect the habitat – going farbeyond the previous possibilities.Protection of species diversity on farmland – from the beginning thishas been the core of the Buckow Nature Conservation Station’s work.Eurasian curlew (above); a field’s edge in bloom (below).