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.

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)