To hell and back
The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust is off to Hell, near Trondheim in Norway, to head up a workshop on the lesser white-fronted goose on behalf of the Norwegian government on 4-6 May.
The aim of the project is to assess the feasibility of re-introducing lesser white-fronted geese Anser erythropus to Norway. Over the last century, numbers have fallen from around 10,000 individuals in Fennoscandia to just 20-30 pairs in more recent years, all now confined to Norway. It is listed as vulnerable on the upcoming IUCN Red List, no change from the last time this list was published. Conservation is therefore key to halt the decline in numbers, and this workshop is the first step towards this aim.
The breeding range of lesser white fronted-geese is now largely restricted to northern Russia, though significant numbers still winter in southeast Europe. Although only a very rare visitor to western Europe, ones or twos occurred regularly at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. It was finding two of these rare geese on his initial visit that inspired Sir Peter Scott to establish what is now the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at that site in 1946.
Peter Cranswick, Head of Species Planning, explains: “There have been an increasing number of successful re-introduction schemes for birds over the last decade. That lesser white-fronted geese are migratory will make this project more difficult than most. A major conservation problem for this species is that the threats – especially hunting – occur elsewhere in the flyway, and this poses an additional challenge for a re-introduction programme. We hope that the findings of this project will therefore be of use for other species also.”
The workshop is to be attended by conservation and government organisations and the Secretariat of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement, a reflection of the complex nature of re-introduction schemes and of the broad range of support needed to ensure they are successful.
