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.

The team consisting of two Finnish LWfG
experts as well as representatives from the Syrian Society
for the Conservation of Wildlife (SSCW) and the General
Commission for Badia Management and Development will spend
a total of eight days in the field visiting sites in northern
and north-eastern Syria in the hope of locating additional
wintering sites of this threatened species.

The project is being conducted as part
of the implementation of the International Single Species
Action Plan for the LWfG and has been organized by the Syrian
Society for the Conservation of Wildlife (SSCW) in close
cooperation with the Syrian National AEWA focal point at
the Ministry of State for Environment Affairs, the Birdlife
International Middle East Division and the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat.
This mission is being generously funded by the Norwegian
Directorate for Nature Management.

The final field report will be posted on
the AEWA website as soon as it becomes available.

For more information please contact:

Nina
Mikander, Coordinator for the Lesser White-fronted
Goose (AEWA Secretariat)