Aegypius Monachus)
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Implementation Review of the EU Species Action Plan for the Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus) LIFE14 PRE UK 002 “Coordinated Efforts for International Species Recovery EuroSAP” Report commissioned by The European Commission Directorate General for the Environment Compiled by Compiler: Jovan Andevski [email protected] Professional review: José Tavares [email protected] Vulture Conservation Foundation, VCF Wuhrstrasse 12. CH-8003 Zurich, Switzerland Date of adoption April 2017 Recommended citation Andevski, J., (2017) Updating the International Species Action Plan for the Cinereous Vulture: Implementation review. Report of Actions A3 under the framework of Project LIFE EuroSAP (LIFE14 PRE UK 002). (unpublished report). 2 Introduction This implementation review report is manly based on data collected though the online questionnaire distributed in late October 2016 (Implementation Review of the Species Action Plan for the Cinereous (Black) Vulture - Aegypius monachus), but it also includes information collected though the Vulture MsAP online questionnaire distributed mid-August 2016 among vulture experts and governmental representatives from the range countries and from the European Vulture Muli-species Action Plan Workshop held in Monfegüe 25-29 October 2016. The two questionnaires and the workshop were shared activities between the “Coordinated Efforts for International Species Recovery – EuroSAP” Life Project, the “Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African and Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP)” and the Flyway Action Plan for the Cinereous Vulture – last two CMS initiative. More information about the Vulture MsAP. The results obtained from the online questionnaires, the workshop in Monfegüe and the whole preparation process of the: Species status report for the Cinereous (Black) Vulture, this Implementation report of the Implementation Review of the EU Species Action Plan for the Cinereous Vulture, the Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African and Eurasian Vultures (Vulture MsAP) and the Flyway Action Plan for the Cinereous Vulture, are providing recent information about the status, threats and conservation effort for the Cinereous vultures, not only in Europe but also at global level. All these documents have been prepared in parallel, complementing itself in a coherent way. Particularly, for this report is considered only the European range countries already listed in the Species Action Plan for the Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus). 3 Contributors Table 1: Questionnaire respondents - contributors Country Name and surname Organization Albania Taulant Bino Albanian Ornithological Society (AOS) Armenia Sevak Baloyan Ministry of Nature Protection of Republic of Armenia Azerbaijan Elchin Sultanov Azerbaijan Ornithological Society Dobromir Dobrev Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds BSPB Bulgaria Emilian Stoynov Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna Ivana Jelenić Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection Croatia Goran Susic Ornithological station Rijeka CASA Jean Paul Urcun LPO Aquitaine France Néouze Raphaël L.P.O. Grands Causses Olivier Patrimonio Ministère de l'Environnement Georgia Aleksandre Abuladze Institute of Zoology, Ilia State University Dimitrios Vasilakis Hellenic Republic, Decentralized Administration Greece Theodora Skartsi WWFMacedonia Greece Thrace, Evros Prefecture Forest Service Elzbieta Kret WWF Greece Marco Gustin Lipu - Italian League for the protection of Birds Italy Alessandro Andreotti ISPRA - Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Eduardo Santos LPNRicerca - Liga Ambientale para a Protecção da Natureza Portugal António Espinha Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas Russia (Caucasus) ElenaMonteiro Shnayder Siberian Environmental Center Serbia Bratislav Grubac Institute for Conservation Nature of Serbia Rubén Moreno-Opo Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment of Alvaro Camiña VultureSpain Conservation Foundation Spain Borja Heredia UNEP/CMS Eduardo Soto-Largo Fundación CBD-Habitat NicolásMeroño López Jiménez SEO/BirdLife The FYR Macedonia Jovan Andevski Vulture Conservation Foundation Itri Levent Erkol Doğa Derneği (BirdLife Turkey) Turkey Elif Yamaç Anadolu University Ilker Ozbahar Nature Research Society Ukraine (Crimea) Kostin Sergey Yu. Nikita botanical gardens-National scientific centre 4 Methodology The methodology of this Species Action Plan review is based on the scoring system developed by BirdLife (Gallo-Orsi, 2001), later on also used by Barov & Derhé, 2010, which basically follows these steps: Assessing the progress towards implementation of the actions and evaluation against the recovery targets set in the plan. Estimating the overall effectiveness of the action plan to meet the planned population recovery objectives, using the latest available population estimates and trends. The tasks were implemented with the help of a questionnaire form specifically designed for the implementation part, based on the contents of the action plan, where each action was converted into a target statement, to enable measurement of progress in implementation. Here we asked about measures like coverage of the species population, existence of management plans, implementation of LIFE and other significant projects, etc. The distance to target was evaluated by assigning an Implementation score (0-4) against each action (target statement); The size of the population affected by the measure was taken in consideration, and also the degree of priority (Priority Score PS) of the respective action, so that in the end an Action Priority Index (API) (representing the need for further action) was be calculated. Additional analysis was carried out to find out the National Implementation Score (NIS) for each country, which combines the urgency of an action with its implementation level. The Implementation Score (IS) of each target will be multiplied by its Priority Score (PS), and the sum of all these scores will be divided by the sum of the Priority Scores (PS). The questionnaire form was produced using the questionnaire Internet platform “SurveyMonkey”. Access link was distributed among national experts in the relevant range states, using as a start point the contributors of the Species Action Plan for the Cinereous Vultures and also the contributors for the most recent implementation review (Barov & Derhé, 2010). In total, 46 persons received the questionnaire and 19 replied. Responses from different experts in the same country were compared for matching. After receiving the answers from individual respondents, all answers were checked, when in doubt, replies were re-checked by consulting the respondents individually. Significant part of the results was incomplete, so we most of the contacts were contacted again to obtain the complete information. After having the complete information from all people, next step was to unify the responses by counties. We merged all the contacts from one country to one single response. This action required additional effort in contacting the stakeholders. The information provided for Georgia and Russia is incomplete. To facilitate the interpretation of these scores, the results are presented in a graphic format. Data regarding the status and trend of the species, threats, legal status and conservation effort (already also included into the Status Report for the Cinereous Vultures) were selected from the Vulture MsAP questionnaire and workshop outcomes. Recently published scientific papers and official data for the species were checked and relevant data is also included into the evaluation report. 5 Background The European Action Plan for the Cinereous Vulture (Heredia, 1996) was developed in 1993 and adopted in 1996 by the European Union and the Bern Convention. The action plan has not been revised so far. It implementation has been reviewed three times – in 2000 (Gallo-Orsi, 2001), 2004 (Nagy & Crockford, 2004) and in 2010 (Barov and Derhé, 2010). Its geographical scope covers Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, France, Georgia, Greece, Italy, FYR of Macedonia, Portugal, Russia (Europe only), Spain, Turkey and Ukraine. General overview Figure 1: Average implementation score (IS) and Action Priority Index (API) for each Action listed in the Cinereous vulture species action plan. Colours represent Priority Score. The SAP has been implemented well across all range countries (AIS=2.2), slightly better compare to the previous implementation review (2010). Good implementation of the plan is noted in the countries with significant populations (France, Greece and Spain) where significant number of actions have been fully implemented. On the other hand, the species has been increasing since the adoption of the plan and continue to do so since the last review (2010). Some of the key threats have been addressed with legal measures and with designation of protected areas, but mainly through active conservation actions on the ground (related to feeding and the illegal use of poison). In the same time, poisoning remains a critical threat to address for this species (for all vulture species in general). Restoring the population to previous levels and recolonization of countries where it is extinct is unlikely due to the permanent loss of suitable habitat or significant distance from native existing colonies. Therefore, especially in Eastern Europe the species remain dependent of conservation activities (reintroduction activities where extinct). 6 Objective(s) These are the objectives presented in the SAP: In the short term, to