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On April 1st 2018 an interesting article in the BVZ about the now third LIFE project Great Bustard and the visit of the LIFE project by Dr. Felix Bergmann from the Monitoring Team (NEEMO) and Mattia Pellegrini from the European Commission (EASME).

BVZ Article (pdf, 144 KB)

EU wants to learn from Burgenland Great Bustards Protection!

Our projects for Europe's heaviest airworthy bird are best practice examples in nature conservation and cause a stir in Europe.

Through various activities, the GReat Bustard avtivists have managed to increase the endangered population of the Great Bustard in the border region of Austria-Hungary-Slovakia from under 100 animals to more than 400 specimens of "Otis tarda", while elsewhere in Europe the stocks continue to decline in many areas. During a visit by one responsible member of the European Commission (EASME) and the outsourced monitoring team (NEEMO), the body responsible for the evaluation of nature conservation projects, an attempt was made to determine the reasons for this success. Felix Bergmann and Mattia Pellegrini "We want to learn from the efforts we have made to be able to act similarly in other areas". The coordinator of the protection efforts in Austria and Central Europe, Rainer Raab "The combination of various measures for the Great Bustard brings success. The provision of specially designed protective areas for the successful rearing of young Bustards and the protection against losses are decisive factors. Due to the underground cabling and subsequent removal of medium-voltage power lines or marking of power lines, but also by the predator control by the hunters and the increased number of juvenile Bustards, the stock in northern Burgenland has recovered significantly". Werner Falb-Meixner, Chairman of the Austrian Society for the Protection of the Great Bustard "The secret of success is the intensive cooperation of farmers, hunters, conservationists and the communities. It has been possible to create the protection areas with the Austrian program for environmentally-oriented agriculture and to raise additional funds for various protection activities in the now 3rd EU LIFE project. "

On the picture from left:
Felix Bergmann (NEEMO), Miki Lorant (Hungarian Bustard Coordinator), Rainer Raab (European Great Bustard Coordinator), Mattia Pellegrini (EASME), Werner Falb-Meixner (Chairman of the Austrian Society for Great Bustard Conservation).

On March 9th 2018, the National Report 2018 for the Great Bustard in Austria was published on the homepage of the Covention of Migratory Species in addition to the national reports of other member states. The report covers the development of the Great Bustard population since 2001, as well as results from the implemented and ongoing LIFE project Great Bustard.

2018 National Reports from Signatories - Austria (CMS/GB/MOS4/Inf.6.8) (pdf, 3.501 KB)