First Steps towards a Flyway Action Plan for Population of Bewick's Swan taken in Saint Petersburg

Flock of migrating Bewick's Swans at Nemunas Delta stop over site in Lithuania / Photo: Nicky Petkov

Saint Petersburg / Ede, 28 October 2009 –
A group of 30 experts met at a workshop in Saint Petersburg,
Russia (25-28 September 2009) to start the process of
developing a Flyway Action Plan for the conservation of
the West Siberian/ North-West European population of the
Bewick’s Swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii).

This population of the Bewick’s Swan,
which breeds in the Russian Arctic and spends the northern
winter in NW Europe, has declined by almost 40% since the
mid 1990s (according to the data from the International
Waterbird Census).

The Bewick's Swan experts at work in St. Petersburg, Russia / Photo: Nicky Petkov (Wetlands International)

The workshop participants visit "Rakovie Lakes" reserve - one of the sites for Bewick's Swan in Russia / Photo: Nicky Petkov (Wetlands International)

Group photo of the workshop participants / Photo: Nicky Petkov (Wetlands International)

The workshop was jointly organized by Wetlands
International, the WI-IUCN SSC Swan Specialist Group and
the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (UK) and was hosted by Lenoble
Priroda (the local project partner in Saint Petersburg).
The workshop was made possible through a BBI Matra project
funded by the Dutch Government (LNV) and lead by Dienst
Landelijk Gebied (DLG) - Land and Water Management Service
of LNV.

Based on the results of the workshop, Wetlands
International will develop a Flyway Population Action Plan
and submit it for approval to the African-Eurasian Waterbird
Agreement (AEWA), which will trigger further coordinated
actions led by the WI-IUCN SSC Swan Specialist Group in
collaboration with the relevant governmental organisations,
research institutes and non-governmental organisations.

For more information please see: