25
Apr 2008 - An adult lesser white-fronted
goose named Mánnu was found dead
at Lake Kerkini, south of the Greek-Bulgarian
border, in an area where hunting is prohibited.
An autopsy confirmed a poacher killed the
bird with a shotgun.
The death represents
some 5 per cent of the Fennoscandian (Northern
Europe) breeding males, according to Scandinavian
partners in a project to protect the birds
which breed in northernmost Norway. “This
is dramatic, because loss of adult reproductive
birds has significant negative impact on
the recruitment of the small population”,
said Dr. Ingar Jostein Øien from
BirdLife Norway.
“So much effort has
been invested in the conservation of the
species in Norway and internationally, and
now it seems that poaching is jeopardizing
our conservation efforts.”
“In 2006, we lost another
adult male in Russia, so this is already
the second bird confirmed shot out of the
seven individuals monitored by the EU Life
project.”
Since being ring-marked
in May 2006, Mánnu and his mate Máddu
had been monitored along their migratory
route form their breeding grounds in northernmost
Norway to the regular wintering sites in
Northern Greece.
For Yannis Tsougrakis,
coordinator of the Life project in Greece,
“this is probably the most serious case
of poaching in Greece in the recent years,
but also one of the most alarming cases
in Europe.”
The EU Birds Directive
put an obligation on the Greek state to
effectively protect the Lesser White-fronted
goose from poaching and accidental shooting.
“In practice this will
require a ban on goose hunting, regarding
all goose species and effective control
of poaching, at the wintering sites at Lake
Kerkini and in the Evros Delta.”
“The national Action
Plan for the conservation of the Lesser
White-fronted goose has been completed,
but it has never been implemented,” said
Tsougrakis. “We are calling on Greece to
fulfil their obligations under the agreement
as a matter of urgency.”
Lesser White-fronted
geese are protected under the EU Birds Directive
and also by national legislation in Greece.
The main part of Fennoscandian birds’ populations’
spends the winter in Greece.
Various conservation
actions are being implemented in Norway,
Finland, Estonia, Hungary and Greece as
an ultimate effort to rescue the species.
They are part of the EU Life Nature project
“Conservation of the Lesser White-fronted
goose on the European migration route” lead
by WWF Finland.
“Greece could be a safe
winter refuge for the species and an essential
contribution to its rescue. However, the
inability to prevent illegal hunting even
in protected areas, the lack of law enforcement
and the lack of training for hunters make
the species vulnerable to hunting, which
is the main cause for the population decline
in Europe and globally”, said Petteri Tolvanen,
WWF-Finland’s conservation officer.
