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.

In addition to extensive work in the field
(monitoring, study of feeding habits and preferred biotypes),
project milestones included an interregional meeting on
the use of waterfowl between the three regional authorities
(oblasts) in which the Kuma-Manych Depression lies. As
a result, the administration of Rostov Oblast decided to
close spring hunting of waterfowl for the next five years.
Spring hunting within the Kumo-Manych Depression area in
the Republic of Kalmykia has been closed since 2009 and
a further commitment was made at the meeting not to re-open
spring hunting. An Interregional Working Group was established
to continue work on these issues. A draft Action Plan for
the optimization of the use of waterfowl at the Kumo-Manych
stopover site has been updated by the Working Group and
has been submitted to the local governments for adoption.
Several workshops for hunters were also organized concentrating
on awareness-raising and identification skills. Last but
not least, the report also entails recommendations for
further conservation activities to be implemented in Kumo-Manych
as well as suggestions as to how the conservation methods
applied could be used at other key sites.

The project was coordinated and carried out by Ms. Sonia
Rozenfeld of the Goose, Swan and Duck Study Group Northern
Eurasia and was kindly funded by the Norwegian Directorate
for Nature Management.

For more information please contact:

Ms. Nina Mikander,
Coordinator for the Lesser White-fronted Goose