Annual Report 2018 EuroNatur Foundation

Selected EuroNatur projects in 2018
Protecting white storks from Spain to Turkey
Photo: Stork Village Bizica
Geographical location in Europe
European Stork Villages and other project areas in Croatia,
Hungary, Germany, Spain, Romania, Slovenia, Poland,
Austria, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Turkey, North Macedonia,
Slovakia, Serbia and Greece.
Status
All over Europe more and more wet grasslands have been
converted to monotonous arable land in recent years. In order
to counter this trend, EuroNatur and its partners are working
to protect wet grasslands, both meadows and pastures. The
stork villages EuroNatur has recognized all over Europe are
“flagship projects” in this respect. White storks are popular all
across the continent and are very well suited to draw attention
to the risks to its wet grassland habitats and all the other
species they host.
Objectives
Our aim is for the European Stork Villages to be seen as
national vanguards of stork protection. Starting from the
existing stork villages we are working towards initiating
“copycat” projects in the countries concerned, the focus of
which will be on habitat protection measures. Such measures
will not only benefit the storks, as the maintenance of their
habitats automatically creates improved conditions for the
common snipe, northern lapwing and black-tailed godwit.
Selected activities in 2018
Sites were purchased in a number of countries with a view
to implementing management measures such as scrub removal
or gradual re-wetting.
The 15th conference of European Stork Villages was held on
June 14-17, 2018 in the Swiss Stork Village of Altreu. The
stork protectors engaged in intensive exchanges with regard
to the development of their villages and stork populations.
The threats posed by power lines and electricity pylons were
another important topic, given that they are an ongoing
driver of stork mortality through collision or electrocution.
Important achievements in 2018
The year 2018 saw the successful conclusion of five projects
aimed at improving stork habitats, including the
restoration and enhancement of numerous meadows and
pastures, the establishment of new ponds, or the removal
of rubbish.
The storkvillages.net website has improved the initiative’s
external image and allows for easy exchanges between
the stork villages.
Outlook
In 2019 we are planning to develop a strategy for the
further development of the network of European Stork
Villages. There will also be another meeting of the villages
in 2019.
Meadows and pastures for white stork & Co.
The European-wide project for the maintenance of
wet meadows and pastures has been underway for
four years. Storks all the way from Spain to Turkey
are benefiting from the measures taken: Nine largescale
habitat restorations have been implemented in
eight countries, among other measures. A total of
145 hectares of wet grassland were restored and/or
enhanced; this is roughly equivalent to the size of
812 soccer fields.
Partners: Ciconia Foundation, Swiss Stork Society (Gesellschaft
Storch Schweiz), European Stork Villages and
their national partners in conservation
Funding: RHW-Stiftung, Pancivis Foundation, Aage V. Jensen
Charity Foundation, Bristol Stiftung (Switzerland), EU LIFE,
Manfred-Hermsen-Stiftung for Nature Conservation and
Environmental Protection, EuroNatur’s donors and sponsors
11
Annual Report 2018
Nomads of the sky