Conservation of Europe's Rarest Continental Passerine: A Transboundary Initiative for Aquatic Warbler Population Recovery

Introduction

The project „Conservation of Europe's Rarest Continental Passerine: A Transboundary Initiative for Aquatic Warbler Population Recovery“ (acronym: LIFE4AquaticWarbler) aims at halting the ongoing range contraction of Europe´s rarest passerine bird - the Aquatic Warbler (Acrocephalus paludicola) - a species protected by the EU Birds Directive.

Project Area

The project area encompasses the major part of the breeding range of the species, which is at present left with less than 50 breeding populations globally.

Objectives

The aim of the project is to stop the declining trend of the subpopulations in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, and Ukraine and to restore the Aquatic Warbler’s breeding range to an area larger than 1,500 km² by facilitating the re-occupation of at least 6 abandoned breeding sites.

Restoration and Translocation

To reach this ambitious goal, the project will:

1. Restore 3,910 ha of breeding habitat.
2. Translocate 760 birds from donor populations in Poland and Ukraine to recipient sites in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Hungary.

Historical Context

During the last 30 years, the international Aquatic Warbler Conservation Team (AWCT) has successfully improved and restored many deteriorated breeding habitats of the species in various countries. The translocation strategy of the project is a logical next step for bringing back the species to these habitats across its former breeding range.

Collaboration

A particularity of this project is the intensive cooperation of the project partners from four EU member states with an NGO from the accession candidate state Ukraine. The partners include:

• The Baltic Environmental Forum (Lithuania)
• EuroNatur
• Förderverein Naturschutz im Peenetal e.V.
• Landschaftspflegeverband Uckermark-Schorfheide (all from Germany)
• Ogólnopolskie Towarzystwo Ochrony Ptaków (Poland)
• Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds (Ukraine)
• Hortobágy Természetvédelmi Egyesület (Hungary)

The project foresees cooperation in the fields of nature protection, rural economy, and EU legislation. It is planned to last for nine years.