130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Dalmatian pelicans
at the Kerkini Lake in
Greece. Fishermen
here have substantial
incomes from
showing the pelicans
to visitors.
Opportunities to address species declines
have also been taken in legislation and policy not
primarily concerned with nature conservation.
For example, many of the economic incentives
(subsidies and compensation measures) in place
(Figure 14) consist of agri-environment measures
under the EU Common Agricultural Policy and
are concerned with appropriate management of
farmland habitats. Although the effectiveness
of such measures varies widely across the EU
and between species [4] , appropriate targeting of
management prescriptions, such as for Lesser
kestrel and Saker falcon, has proved effective.
Similarly, concerted effort by scientists, conservationists
and land managers recently resulted
in new regulations in EU sanitary legislation,
which allow abandonment of livestock carcasses
in the field or at vulture feeding stations [5, 6] , thus
ensuring that regulation of disposal of carcasses in
response to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy
(BSE) will not further reduce food availability for
scavengers.
In some cases, notably for the geese, Common
crane and Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), recovery
was an unintended result of land-use change,
as the species shifted their habitat use towards
more productive intensively managed pastures,
meadows and other croplands. Similarly, the
increases of White storks in southwest Europe (and
partly also northwestern populations) were partly
the result of new foraging opportunities on landfill
and reduced mortality owing to the cessation of
migration, as well as the increase in food availability
with the introduction and expansion of a
non-native crayfish species.
Protection from persecution, protection of key
sites and habitats, and active conservation efforts,
promoted in particular by the EU Birds Directive
and SAPs, and often implemented through projects
such as those funded by EU LIFE [7] , are among
the most important drivers of comeback for the
species considered in this study. In fact, the implementation
of the EU Birds Directive and more
specifically the designation of protected areas
(including Special Protection Areas, SPAs, as part
of the Natura 2000 network in the EU), has been
shown to benefit the conservation status of all
species listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive (see
‘Introduction’) [8] .
Conclusions
There is large variation in the increases shown
by selected species of mammals and birds in
population abundance, with some marked regional
variation. Range change is likely to provide a less
robust metric than abundance change, since there
are underlying issues of spatial resolution of range
maps over time.
The key drivers of comeback for both the
mammal and bird species considered in this
study were legal protection, especially from
persecution, and targeted species-specific conservation
effort, including reintroductions and other
recovery management. For bird species, habitat
management and site protection were also very
frequently cited as factors that contribute to
species recovery.
It is important to consider that the set of species
included in this study consists of a selection of
species that have recovered following considerable
historical declines and most have not yet
recovered to pre-decline levels. This is true also for
many other species in Europe which are currently
showing population and range increases. However,
this comeback has to be set against other species
which are still declining throughout Europe,
indicating the limitations of current conservation
strategies.
References
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