LIFE managing habitats for birds LIFE Nature Environment LIFE NATURE | LIFE MANAGING HABITATS FOR BIRDS EUROPEAN COMMISSION ENVIRONMENT DIRECTORATE-GENERAL LIFE (“The Financial Instrument for the Environment”) is a programme launched by the European Commission and coordinated by the Environment Directorate-General (LIFE Units - E.3. and E.4.). The contents of the publication “LIFE managing habitats for birds” do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the institutions of the European Union. Authors: João Pedro Silva (Nature expert), Justin Toland, Wendy Jones, Jon Eldridge, Ed Thorpe, Eamon O’Hara, Joanne Potter, Rikke Albrechtsen, Christophe Thévignot (AEIDL, Communications Team Coordinator) Managing Editor: Angelo Salsi (European Commission, DG Environment, LIFE Unit). LIFE Focus series coordination: Simon Goss (DG Environment, LIFE Communications Coordinator), Valérie O’Brien (DG Environment, Communications Coordinator). The following people also worked on this issue: Maja Mikosinska, Micheal O’Briain, Frank Vassen (DG Environment), Aixa Sopeña, Donald Lunan, Alberto Cozzi, Ieva Mardega, Felix Bergmann, Manu Harchies, Kaia Treier, Cornelia Schmitz, Katerina Raftopoulou (Astrale EEIG). Production: Monique Braem. Graphic design: Daniel Renders, Anita Cortés (AEIDL). Photos database: Sophie Brynart. Acknowledgements: Thanks to all LIFE project beneficiaries who contributed comments, photos and other useful material for this report. Photos: Unless otherwise specified; photos are from the respective projects. Cover photo: LIFE07 NAT/P/000654 - Lesser Kestrel - Rui Cunha. HOW TO OBTAIN EU PUBLICATIONS Free publications: • via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu); • at the European Commission’s representations or delegations. You can obtain their contact details on the Internet (http://ec.europa.eu) or by sending a fax to +352 2929-42758. Priced publications: • via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu). Priced subscriptions (e.g. annual series of the Official Journal of the European Union and reports of cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union): • via one of the sales agents of the Publications Office of the European Union (http://publications.europa.eu/ others/agents/index_en.htm). Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) Certain mobile telephone operators do not allow access to 00 800 numbers or these calls may be billed. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2012 ISBN 978-92-79-27587-6 ISSN 1725-5619 doi:10.2779/41877 © European Union, 2012 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. Printed in Luxembourg Printed on recycled paper that has been awarded the EU Ecolabel (http://ec.europa.eu/ecolabel/) carbon neutral natureOffice.com | LU-319-578948 print production LIFE NATURE | LIFE MANAGING HABITATS FOR BIRDS Foreword he conservation of Europe’s birdlife has been an EU policy priority since the 1970s (the Angelo Salsi Head of Unit E.3 LIFE - Nature Birds Directive was first enacted in 1979, in fact). Since the establishment of the LIFE Directorate-General T for the Environment programme in 1992, which replaced the earlier ACNAT funding mechanism, EU-level support European Commission for endangered bird species and their habitats has focused on targeted practical conservation, restoration and management actions in Natura 2000 network sites throughout the Union. The objective of this publication is to highlight some specific examples of habitat management for birds funded by LIFE. Examples cover a range of different habitats (principally wetlands, grasslands and forests), species and bio-geographical regions across the EU. Given the importance of sites all along the routes of migratory birds, there are also examples of how LIFE co-funding has been used for transnational cooperation projects managing habitats in multiple locations, as well as to track species to wintering spots in Africa and elsewhere in the EU. This will allow the development of a more integrated approach to conservation in future. What is clear from reading the publication is that, whilst much has already been achieved in terms of implementing those cornerstones of EU nature conservation policy, the Birds Direc- tive and Habitats Directive, we are now entering a new phase in which the goal is moving from designating and establishing Natura 2000 network sites to establishing mechanisms by which long-term management of the habitats and species found in those sites can be guaranteed. For many of Europe’s most endangered bird species, such as the aquatic warbler, without re- peated human intervention (e.g. regular mowing and grazing) their preferred habitats would soon become over grown and uninhabitable. LIFE Nature & Biodiversity has repeatedly shown that it is possible to engage the support of farmers, land managers and landowners to imple- ment farming methods that also benefit the habitats in which Europe’s threatened bird popula- tions thrive. As this publication shows, lessons from the current funding period (2007-2013) can be taken forward by the LIFE programme during 2014-2020. They can also be used to inform the design of agri-environmental schemes that will provide farmers with the financial security necessary to persuade them to manage land in ways that also support rare birdlife and other endangered species and habitats. 1 LIFE NATURE | LIFE MANAGING HABITATS FOR BIRDS TABLE OF CONTENTS The conservation status of birds’ habitats Securing the future of a special habitat for birds ................40 and EU birds policy ....................................................................................3 Reversing human-induced silting-up of LIFE and habitat management for birds .......................................7 lagoon habitats ........................................................................................42 Managing habitats for birds ..................................................9 Irish project revives waterbird habitat ........................................44 Answering the call of the capercaillie .....................................10 Denmark’s meadows to welcome back ruff and dunlin ...................................................................................................45 Restoring sustainable breeding habitats for priority eagles and storks ...................................................................14 Conserving wet meadows for corncrakes ..................................46 Agreeing habitat management actions with forest WETLIFE restoration benefits Lithuania’s bird life ...............49 landowners .................................................................................................18 Finding solutions for Audouin’s gull in Catalonia ..................53 Improving prospects for Bonelli’s eagle ..................................... 20 Coastal meadow management aids Baltic birdlife ..............55 Safeguarding food supplies for birds Managing the natural hydrology of coastal of prey in Greece .....................................................................................22 lagoons .........................................................................................................57 Recovering habitat for the threatened Protecting Portuguese petrels .........................................................59 Azores bullfinch .......................................................................................24 Making the Comacchio marshes habitable Bolstering blue chaffinch populations.........................................26 for waterbirds............................................................................................61 Habitat management helps vultures return ............................28 Helping build a marine Natura 2000 network Reintroducing management of Mediterranean for birds ........................................................................................................63 scrubland .....................................................................................................29 Flyway cooperation key to endangered goose conservation ..............................................................................66 Sustaining grassland habitats in Portugal and Spain .....................................................................................................30 Steps to safeguard the rare aquatic warbler ..........................69 Clearing habitats for central European LIFE develops bird conservation tools and great bustards ..........................................................................................33 networks .....................................................................................................71 Managing grasslands for falcons...................................................36 Projects focusing on birds habitats since 2002 .......74 Measures to protect a rare island species ................................39 Available LIFE Nature publications ..................................77 2 LIFE NATURE | LIFE MANAGING HABITATS FOR BIRDS INTRODUCTION The conservation status of birds’ habitats and EU birds policy There has been major deterioration and loss of habitats throughout the EU. This has had a knock-on effect on a number of endangered bird species that depend on these habitats. This introductory article