The AEWA Secretariat will help address the continued decline of this highly threatened population of Lesser White-fronted Geese through the establishment of a new international advisory body. This Committee will be meeting for the first time next month in Bonn, Germany.

The Fennoscandian population of the Lesser-White-fronted Goose (LWfG, Anser erythropus) is on the verge of extinction with no more than 20-30 breeding pairs left. It is known to breed in northern Norway and to winter mainly in Greece and its adjacent countries. Hunting incidents such as the one reported by BirdLife showcase that continued practical conservation action is urgently needed to avoid the complete disappearance of this population. This incident also highlights the general need for effective policy provisions and enforcement of existing law by all Range States - strengthened through transboundary collaboration.

Lesser White-fronted Geese (Photo: Ingar Jostein Øien)One of the tasks for achieving enhanced international cooperation for the protection of the Lesser White-fronted Goose is the establishment of a Committee for Captive Breeding, Reintroduction and Supplementation of the species in Fennoscandia. This Committee will consist government representatives and experts from Norway, Finland, Sweden and Germany who provide technical advice and joint recommendations to guide activities for a sustainable and viable breeding population in Fennoscandia. The focus of these Range States to the wild breeding population of Lesser White-fronted Geese will be to recommend actions for breeding in captivity and release into the wild of the species.

The AEWA Secretariat will convene the Committee for the first time on 7-8 May 2008 in Bonn, Germany. As a thematic sub-group to the Lesser White-fronted Goose International Working Group, the Committee meeting will set the stage for a concerted effort by all Range States of the species to update the International Action Plan for the LWfG and move towards the practical implementation of conservation measures such as the enforcement mechanisms against illegal hunting and effective monitoring.

For more information on the meeting and AEWA’s coordination work for the LWfG please contact: Kirsten Martin, kmartin@unep.de.
The EU LIFE project is a concerted effort lead by WWF Finland and sponsored by the European Commission to conserve the species on its European migration route in Norway, Finland, Estonia, Hungary and Greece.
For more information on the project please visit:
http://www.wwf.fi/english/finland/lesser_white_fronted

Birdlife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.

For BirdLife International’s announcement on the Lesser White-fronted Goose please visit: http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2008/04/LwfGooseshot.html