Layman video of the project Life for Safe Flight

After successful completion of the project LIFE for Safe Flight, dedicated to the conservation of the globally threatened Red-breasted Goose, its layman video is now ready.

For the past five years a partnership of 11 organisations and institutions across the entire flyway of the Red-breasted Goose have combined their efforts in securing the safe migration of the species.

One of the key threats to the Red-breasted Goose is illegal killing and poaching during hunting season and especially during spring and autumn migration at their staging grounds. Satellite tracking and colour ringing helped us calculating the percentage of the illegal killing, getting more data on their movements and threats, and to determine the key areas along their flyway.

We implemented some 60 field surveys over five winter monitoring cycles and worked with the hunting community in several key ways:

• We organized an intensive patrolling system during hunting seasons involving field conservation experts and institution representatives;
• We implemented surveys and acoustic studies of hunting activities; and
• We talked and discussed issues with the hunters in the field and provided them with materials to help reduce accidental killing of protected species.

We organized specialized training for hunters to raise their awareness about sustainable waterbird harvesting. And as a result of all the activities within the project we managed to stop spring hunting in Kalmykia and in the Rostov region in Russia, thus granting a safe passage during spring migration.

Illegal killing continues to be a problem for the species along its migration route, which was sadly confirmed by losing many of our tagged birds. Today most countries have laws to protect migratory birds and their habitats, and especially those that are threatened and declining. We hope that the capacity we have built, both locally and internationally, will contribute to a brighter future for the Red-breasted Goose and other migratory waterbirds.

The layman video is part of the activities within the project Conservation of the Red-breasted Goose Along the Global Flyway (LIFE16/NAT/BG000847), funded by the LIFE Programme.