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Lesser Spotted Eagle and Corncrake in productive landscapes
Sustainable land use for Lesser Spotted Eagle and Corncrake in North European Lowland
- Project financial instrument: Life+
- Implementation stage: Project proposal submitted - awaiting decission
- Project partners: Lithuanian Fund for Nature (lead partner) and 14 other partners (please see the summary document below
- Country: Denmark, Germany, Poland and Lithuania
- Budget: 11 mln Euro
Background and aims
This exciting trans-European project (Denmark, Germany, Poland and Lithuania) covering 29 Natura 2000 sites will apply an innovative landscape management approach to secure long-term viable populations of the Lesser Spotted Eagle and Corncrake. This is the largest ever harmonized effort for the conservation of these two species in Europe.
Detailed surveys of Lesser Spotted Eagle have demonstrated an alarming extent of decline in many European countries, especially at the western and southern borders of its range. It is now very rare or extinct in many areas e.g. Austria, Czech Republic, Germany. Lesser Spotted Eagle numbers in Germany is estimated to be between 100 and 115 pairs; in Poland: 1765-2000 pairs and in Lithuania: 900-1200 pairs. These dramatic long-term declines in population numbers for Lesser Spotted Eagle are largely due to intensification of farmland management practices (in Western Europe) and/or abandonment of land (predominately in Eastern Europe) leading to a general loss of landscape mosaics, crop monocultures, unsuitable mowing regimes and times, large scale drainage of riverine habitats, unsuitable natural regeneration, aforestation, etc.
Corncrake populations in almost all European range-countries have suffered long-term declines. On average, Corncrake numbers fell by c.20–50% in the mid 1980s to mid 1990s in many European countries . However, surveys in eastern European countries in the 1990s proved the existence of thriving populations. The main reason for the recent increases in the national populations is the abandonment of land use in large parts of formerly cultivated areas in Eastern Europe following the breakdown of the Soviet Union. These huge areas with abandoned fields and meadows provide temporarily perfect Corncrake breeding habitat until the overgrown vegetation with time becomes too dense or bushy. In Eastern Europe thriving populations of Corncrake were possible because of the lack of subsidies for farmers. The expected intensification of agricultural practices, which has partially begun in this region (since 2004) is very likely to reverse these trends and the first negative consequences on Corncrake habitats has already been clearly identified in Western Poland.
Objectives
The main aim that this project contributes to is: Favourable conservation status of Lesser Spotted Eagle and Corncrake secured and enhanced in Europe.
The two main objectives that this project will achieve are:
- To halt the decline and enhance the breeding populations and range of Lesser Spotted Eagle and Corncrake on selected Natura 2000 sites in Lithuania, Poland, Denmark and Germany by 2014. This will be achieved through the implementation of both direct conservation measures and sustainable land use strategies on 29 Natura 2000 sites.
- To develop and promote the landscape scale model for conservation and sustainable land use for Lesser Spotted Eagle and Corncrake by 2014. The careful selection of countries and sites provides an excellent opportunity to capture restoration measures as well as preventative measures and to develop comprehensive and holistic conservation solutions. Monitoring and evaluation of the measures at landscape scale is an integral part of the project. The dissemination of project results (to national, regional and local authorities, agri-environmental advisors, landowners, scientists etc) is crucial to the long-term success of conservation effort and is therefore an integrated part of this project.
Download the summary document [pdf 110kB]
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