| Lesser
White-fronted Goose in the Spotlight at
the CMS COP10 in Bergen, Norway |
 Bonn
/ Bergen 29 November 2011 –
The globally threatened Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) was
prominently featured at the 10th Meeting
of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals which took place
from 20-25 November 2011 in Bergen,
Norway.
The Lesser White-fronted
Goose is the migratory species in Norway
that has undergone the most drastic decline,
and saving this enigmatic bird is clearly
close to the Norwegian heart. Norway plays
a very active role in the international
conservation efforts of the species both
by continuously contributing substantial
amounts of funding to various projects
and by sharing its expertise and knowledge
with other stakeholders. [Read
on] |
|
| New
LIFE+ project for the Lesser White-fronted
Goose starts with kick-off meeting at Lake
Kerkini in Greece |
 Bonn,
09 November 2011 - The new LIFE+
project for safeguarding the Fennoscandian
sub-population
of the Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser
erythropus) along its European flyway
was officially launched with a 2-day workshop
in Kerkini, Greece on 7-8 November, organized
by the lead project partner, the Hellenic
Ornithological Society (HOS)
and hosted by the Kerkini National Park
Management Authority.
The workshop
brought together all eight project beneficiaries
from Bulgaria,
Finland, Hungary, Greece and the UNEP/AEWA
Secretariat as well as representatives
from the Norwegian Ornithological Society
and the Norwegian Directorate for Nature
Management to discuss project activities
and implementation. The workshop was also
attended by a representative from the External
LIFE Monitoring Team (ASTRAL), who briefed
project partners on reporting and financial
duties.
[Read
on]
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| New
EU LIFE+ project for the Lesser White-fronted Goose approved
by EU Commission |
 Bonn,
12 August 2011 - The EU Commission
has given its final stamp of approval to a new five-year
LIFE+ project with the aim of safeguarding the Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) along
its European flyway.
The Greek
BirdLife partner, the Hellenic Ornithological
Society (HOS),
will lead the project which is set
to kick off in September 2011. Other
partners
include further organizations from
Greece as well as from Bulgaria, Finland
and
Hungary. The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat
will also be a project partner and
beneficiary.
[Read
on] |
|
| RECAP
Committee for the Lesser White-fronted Goose
in Fennoscandia holds 4th meeting at UN
Campus in Bonn |
|
 Bonn,
24 June 2011 – The Committee
for Captive Breeding, Reintroduction and
Supplementation of Lesser White-fronted
Geese in Fennoscandia (RECAP) was convened
by the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat for its fourth
meeting on the 16th of June at the UN
Campus in Bonn, Germany. Committee members
Finland, Norway and Sweden as well as
observer country Germany were all represented.
The meeting was chaired by AEWA Acting
Executive Secretary Marco Barbieri. [read
on]
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AEWA Accession Meeting and Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus) Workshop held in Azerbaijan |
|
 Bonn
06 June 2011 - The Republic of Azerbaijan
is host to an amazing variety of migratory
waterbirds. More than 50 of the waterbird
populations covered by AEWA concentrate
in internationally important numbers
in the Kizil Agach Nature Reserve which
borders the Caspian Sea in southern Azerbaijan,
making it one of the most important sites
for migratory waterbirds in the Agreement
area.
[read
on]
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|
Report Nr. 2 in Lesser White-fronted Goose International Working Group Series Now Available: Regulation of Spring and Autumn Hunting in the Kumo-Manych Depression, Kalmykia, Russian Federation |
|
 Bonn
23 March - The second report in the AEWA
Lesser White-fronted Goose International
Working Group series - which is now available
as a PDF download on the AEWA website
- features the results of a one year
pilot-project focusing on the regulation
of spring and autumn hunting of waterbirds
in the Kumo-Manych Depression in the
Republic of Kalmykia in south-western
Russia.
The project,
which was carried out from March 2010
to February 2011,
made very good progress in protecting
this key site for Lesser White-fronted
Geese (LWfG), Red-breasted Geese (RbG)
and other threatened waterbird species.
[read
on] |
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|
New Report Series for the Lesser White-fronted
Goose – Report on Possible Wintering
Areas in Syria Now Available |
|
 The
UNEP/AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce
the launch of a new report series developed
under the AEWA Lesser White-fronted Goose
International Working Group (LWfG IWG).
The new
LWfG Reports will, for example, feature
the results and outcomes from
Lesser White-fronted Goose conservation
projects being carried out across the
species range as part of the implementation
of the AEWA LWfG Single Species Action
Plan. [read
on] |
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|
First AEWA Lesser White-fronted Goose International Working Group Meeting held in Helsinki |
|
 Bonn,
15 December 2010 -
Coordinated international efforts for
the conservation of the Western Palearctic
population of the Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) got
off to a good start in Helsinki, Finland
at
the first ever Meeting of the AEWA
Lesser White-fronted Goose International
Working Group. The meeting took place
at the Finnish Ministry of the Environment
on the 30th of November
and 1st of
December.
The International Working Group was
convened by the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat
in 2009 and is the inter-governmental
body responsible for coordinating and
guiding the implementation of the International
Single Species Action Plan for the Lesser
White-fronted Goose (SSAP) adopted at
the 4th Meeting of the Parties to AEWA
in Madagascar in 2008. [read
on]
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|
Lesser White-fronted Goose project amongst
the Best LIFE Nature Projects in 2009 |
|
 Brussels,
9 November 2010 - The Finnish LIFE
Nature project to protect the Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) is one of 23
Best LIFE Nature Projects being featured
in a new European Commission publication
highlighting the 2009 awards.
The selection of the top
LIFE-Nature projects now showcased in
the publication were originally presented
at a conference on the future of the LIFE
programme in Brussels in May 2010. The
projects represent the most successful
of the completed LIFE Nature projects
in 2009, both in terms of best practices
and/or demonstration actions on nature
conservation and the implementation of
the Habitats and Birds Directives. [read
on]
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Work starts on National Action Plan for the Lesser White-fronted Goose in Kazakhstan |
|
 Bonn,
19 October 2010 - At a two day
national workshop on the Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) in
Kostanay in northern Kazakhstan last
week (12 – 14 October 2010) participants
agreed on a basic structure for a National
Action Plan for the Conservation of the
Lesser White-fronted Goose – including
main threats and activities - for Kazakhstan.
The meeting
was chaired by the Kazakhstan national
representative
to the AEWA International Lesser White-fronted
Goose Working Group, Mr. Bakytbek Duisekeyev
from the Committee of Forestry and Hunting
and was facilitated by AEWA Technical
Officer Mr. Sergey Dereliev. The meeting
was also attended by Mr. Tomas Aarvak
from the Norwegian Ornithological Society
who took part in the meeting in his capacity
as international Lesser White-fronted
Goose expert and Ms. Nina Mikander, the
Coordinator for the Lesser White-fronted
Goose based at the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat.
[read
on]
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|
Lesser White-fronted Goose RECAP Committee
meeting takes place in Bonn |
|
 Bonn,
8 October 2010 - The Committee for
Captive Breeding, Reintroduction and Supplementation
of Lesser White-fronted Geese in Fennoscandia
(RECAP) held its third meeting at the
UN Campus in Bonn, Germany on 7-8 October
2010.
Representatives
from Finland, Germany, Norway and Sweden
gave updates on each country's latest
activities on the issue of LWfG reintroduction,
captive breeding and supplementation,
as well as updates on other national LWfG
conservation activities.
Topics on
the agenda also included an independent
review on Lesser White-fronted Goose genetics
as well as a presentation by the Wetlands
and Wildfowl Trust (WWT) of their feasibility
study for a Lesser White-fronted Goose
reintroduction/supplementation programme
in Norway. The ToR's for an independent
review on LWfG flyways was also discussed
and approved by the group. [read
on]
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Steps to
protect globally threatened goose
species taken in South-West Russia |
|
 Bonn,
23rd June 2010 – The
Interregional Meeting on the Optimization
of the Use of Waterfowl at the Kumo-Manych
stopover site in Kalmykia Republic,
Stavropol Krai and Rostov Oblast
took place on 15 of June in Elista,
in the south-western Russian Republic
of Kalmykia. Participants included
representatives from the local governments
of the three regions mentioned above,
hunters’ organizations, scientists
and conservationists as well as
other stakeholders.
The Kumo-Manych
Depression is one of the most important
stopover sites for globally threatened
waterbirds such as the Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) and
the Red-breasted Goose (Branta ruficollis).
Illegal hunting is the main threat to
these species and hunting pressure along
the Russian flyways and stopover sites
is deemed to be especially high, resulting
in a need for vigorous conservation efforts
in these areas.
[read
on] |
|
|
New EU LIFE+ proposal for the Lesser White-fronted
Goose in the making |
|
 Bonn,
22 March 2010 – Representatives
from Greece, Finland, Norway, Bulgaria
and the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat met for
a two-day workshop in Tichero, Greece
on the 11th and 12th of March to discuss
the application for a new EU LIFE+ project
for the conservation of the Fennoscandian
population of the Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) along
its European flyway.
The new
project proposal will build on the results
and recommendations of the previous LWfG
EU LIFE project lead by WWF Finland which
ended last year. In addition it will follow
the general guidelines of the AEWA International
Single Species Action Plan for the LWfG.
[read
on]
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Over 70 Lesser White-fronted Geese spotted
in Syria |
|
 Bonn,
18 February 2010 - A small scale
field survey is currently underway in
the Syrian Arab Republic with the goal
of identifying possible key wintering
sites of the Lesser White-fronted Goose
(LWfG), Anser erythropus.
First reports
from the team involved confirm that LWfG
winter in Syria – potentially in
larger numbers than previously suspected.
On Tuesday the 16th of February 72 LWfG
were spotted in a flock of 700 geese at
Lake Al-Jabbul. This is the highest number
of LWfG ever counted in the area. [Read
on]
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Norway publishes National Action Plan for
the Lesser White-fronted Goose |
|
 Trondheim
/ Bonn, 27 October 2009 - The Norwegian
Ministry of the Environment has launched
the Norwegian National Action Plan for
the conservation of the globally threatened
Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser
erythropus). The goal is to halt
the decline of the Fennoscandian population
which breeds in northern Norway within
the next five years and in the long run
to increase the population to 1000 birds.
The action
plan, which aims to combine and coordinate
efforts between different officials and
stakeholders, comes at a crucial time:
only an estimated 15 – 20 breeding
pairs still migrate to Norway each spring.
[read
on]
|
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|
EU LIFE project ‘Conservation of the
Lesser White-fronted Goose on the European
migration route’ concludes its findings
with the establishment of a South-Eastern
European monitoring network |
|
 Kerkini/Greece,
29 November 2008 - Project managers
and monitoring experts gathered in late
November for the final coordination meeting
of the EU LIFE project “Conservation
of the Lesser White-fronted Goose on its
European migration route” at Lake
Kerkini in Greece. The project meeting
was held back to back with a training
workshop on Lesser White-fronted Goose
identification for 35 ornithologists from
Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey.
Lake Kerkini
area in Greece is known to be one of the
key wintering sites for Lesser White-fronted
Geese. In the period of end-October to
mid-March, the main flock of the Fennoscandian
population can usually be found here or
in the nearby Evros Delta. On 27 November,
the LIFE project team recorded that 45
birds had arrived at the lake. Continuing
observations confirmed that the main flock
appears to be spending most of the winter
at Lake Kerkini this year. [read
on]
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|
International Action Plan for the Lesser
White-fronted Goose sets stage for broader
Eurasian cooperation along the species’
flyway |
|
 Bonn,
10 November 2008 - The recently adopted
“International Single Species Action
Plan for the Conservation of the Lesser
White-fronted Goose (Western Palearctic
Population)” provides a framework
for coordinated international action to
conserve this threatened species across
its full migratory range spanning Europe
and parts of Asia.
Adopted
at the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to
the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird
Agreement in Antananarivo, Madagascar,
the plan sets the stage for strengthened
cooperative conservation action between
22 Eurasian countries in which this species
regularly occurs. [read
on]
Press release:[pdf]
[word]
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Saryarka Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan
– two Important Bird Areas get first
natural World Heritage Site status for Central
Asia |
|
 8/11
July 2008 - News from IUCN and Birdlife
International
During its
32nd session in Quebec the UNESCO World
Heritage Committee announced this week
that two of central Asia’s most
important steppe-wetland Important Bird
Areas, Tengiz-Korgalzhyn and Naurzum are
now formally recognised for their outstanding
natural value. Accordingly, the territory
of “Saryaka - Steppe and Lakes of
Northern Kazakhstan” was added to
the list of UNESCO natural World Heritage
Sites. [read
on]
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Number of migrating Lesser White-fronted
Geese increasing at WOW Project demonstration
site in Estonia |
|
 30
June 2008 – The WOW demonstration
project team in the Silma Nature Reserve
in north-west Estonia, implemented by
the Estonian State Nature Conservation
Centre (SNCC), is excited by this year’s
bird monitoring data. In spring 2008 the
WOW demonstration area was the main stopover
site in Estonia for the globally endangered
Lesser White-fronted Goose (LWfG), Anser
erythropus. This past April and May,
at least 22 different birds were observed
at the demonstration site. [read
on]
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Fennoscandian neighbours meet to form a
Committee for captive breeding and release
into the wild of Lesser White-fronted Geese |
|
 20
May 2008 - Bonn, The AEWA Secretariat
convened a new Committee to guide captive
breeding and release into the wild of
the globally endangered Lesser White-fronted
Goose (Anser erythropus) in Fennoscandia.
Delegations
of the four countries Norway, Finland,
Sweden and Germany, and their scientific
and conservation experts came together
on 7-8 May 2008 to establish the ‘Committee
for Captive Breeding, Reintroduction and
Supplementation of Lesser White-fronted
Geese in Fennoscandia’ [short: ‘LWfG
Recap Committee’]. The Committee’s
purpose is to guide the future of the
small Fennoscandian population of this
globally endangered species. [read
on]
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New
Committee to advise on Lesser White-fronted Geese reintroduction
in Fennoscandia |
|
 15
April 2008 - BirdLife International
reported the illegal shooting of a Lesser
White-fronted Goose inside a protected
area at lake Kerkini in Greece. The AEWA
Secretariat regrets this incident which,
according to BirdLife International and
the EU LIFE project ‘Conservation
of the Lesser White-fronted Goose on the
European migration route’, represents
a loss of 5% of all male birds breeding
in Fennoscandia.
The AEWA
Secretariat will help address the continued
decline of this highly threatened population
of Lesser White-fronted Geese through
the establishment of a new international
advisory body. This Committee will be
meeting for the first time next month
in Bonn, Germany. [read
on]
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Coordinator for the implementation of the
Lesser White-fronted Goose Action Plan takes
up work at the AEWA Secretariat |
|
 The
Single Species Action Plan (SSAP) for the Lesser White-fronted
Goose Anser erythropus is currently being revised
under the auspices of AEWA and will be submitted for approval
by the 4th session of the Meeting of the Parties in September
this year.
In
accordance with the agreements reached
during the negotiation mission of the
Secretariat to the Fenoscandian countries
in 2007, two bodies will be established
to provide guidance and coordination to
the implementation of the SSAP –
a Working Group consisting of representatives
of all range states of the species and
a Committee for captive breeding, reintroduction
and supplementation in Fenoscandia, comprising
representatives of Finland, Norway and
Sweden with Germany as an observer. These
two new bodies are to be chaired by the
Secretariat. [read
on]
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| NEWS
ARCHIVE 2011 for the LwfG |
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