Experts' plan to protect whooper swans
This weekend, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and the Irish Whooper Swan Study Group are joining forces with other partners to prepare a Single Species Action Plan for Whooper Swans at an international workshop in Northern Ireland.
The Action Planning Workshop is being held at the Oxford Island National Nature Reserve in Craigavon, Co Armagh, 5-7 November. The aim is to prepare a draft plan for protecting the Icelandic flyway population of Whooper Swans based on input from experts from across the flyway. This is being done under terms of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) in order to establish priorities for conservation action.
This will involve assessment of the current population status, distribution, conservation status, conservation threats and necessary conservation measures for the population.
WWT's current satellite-tracking project of this population, Super Whooper, will feed data into the findings of the workshop.
To date, six of the seven tracked Super Whoopers have left Iceland and have either arrived or are en route to our shores. The project allows for further swans to be fitted with transmitters to further fill gaps in our knowledge.
The draft plan will be drawn up and submitted to AEWA and CMS for ratification next year.
