PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The great bustard is one of Europes largest breeding bird species. Its population in central Europe, however, is under threat from intensive farming and collision with power lines. A 2005 LIFE project aimed to address these problems and successfully created undivided open spaces in the Westliches Weinviertel SPA. These habitat improvements have stabilised the Austrian great bustard population and could play a key role in establishing a breeding population in the Czech Republic, where the bustard is found but is not breeding.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the LIFE+ Grotrappe project was to reduce the threat of collision with power lines, and at the same time to continue Austrias intensive habitat management efforts. The Austrian breeding population is part of the West-Pannonian population of great bustards, of which a significant part spends the winter in Austria. The project therefore aims to support and maximise the effectiveness of cross-border protection in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic by co-ordinating conservation measures and optimising communication. Other main project objectives are to establish close co-operation with stakeholders and to introduce a public information campaign to reduce the risk of human disturbance of bustards.
RESULTS
The LIFE+ Grotrappe project was very successful in increasing the population of great bustard in Austria, and in reducing major threats to the population. The burial of medium-voltage electricity power lines was implemented to a much larger extent than planned: more than 50 km of power lines were buried compared to the 32 km foreseen. This has prevented mortality of great bustard due to collisions with medium-voltage power lines in Natura 2000 sites, therefore removing a once highly significant mortality risk for great bustards. In the year 2000 there were only 60 birds in the project areas in Austria, and the project foresaw an increase of the great bustard breeding population to between 262-272 individuals by 2015 (numbers refer to minimum and maximum estimation). In fact, the population of great bustards increased to 327-426 by 2015, during the lifetime of the project. In addition to burying medium-voltage power cables in three Natura 2000 sites (the SPAs Sandboden und Praterterrasse, Parndorfer Platte-Heideboden and Waasen-Hansag), the project team marked the cables of high-voltage power over 3.9 km with black and white 'flags', a well-known method to make power lines more visible to reduce bird collisions. The project established a network of volunteers who monitor the numbers of great bustard in the project area. By 2015, more than 700 volunteers - mainly hunters and farmers - took part in this monitoring; a very impressive number for this type of project. This has proved particularly important outside the core protected areas, where the project team did not have the time or resources for monitoring. The monitoring has continued beyond the timeframe of the project. The long-term welfare of the species in Austria strongly depends on habitat quality. The bustard-friendly management of large parts of the project area is the crucial factor for the successful conservation of the species. This includes late mowing after the breeding season of the ground-nesting birds, and the sowing of crops that enhance biodiversity generally. This management is guaranteed by the Austrian agri-environmental scheme (PUL) until 2020. The agri-environmental funds received to manage land in a bustard-friendly way represent an important additional source of income for farmers. The project also established a close cooperation with bustard experts in Hungary and Slovakia. Since 2005, the West-Pannonian population of great bustards is counted simultaneously by experts in the three countries. Between 2005 and 2014, this breeding population increased from 229-234 to 366-446 birds. This is a big success story, given that in most other parts of Europe breeding populations of great bustard continue to decline. Over the same period, the number of wintering birds in the Western-Pannonian population increased from 322 to 500 individuals. The project raised awareness and disseminated its findings via a well-visited website that will remain online until 2023; numerous press release that led to 45 newspaper articles, 8 radio features and 7 TV reports; the installation of an observation tower; information panels in observation towers and local villages; workshops for the public and local stakeholders; 9 articles in scientific journals and presentations at scientific meetings; and specific meetings with 13 majors of local towns and villages, and 104 meetings with stakeholders. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section). An ex-post visit by the LIFE external monitoring team was carried out in March 2018, two years and three months after the projects completion. It concluded that the project had achieving its main overall conservation objective, and had improved the conservation status of great bustard in Austria. The visit confirmed the dramatic increase in the great bustard population during the project lifetime, a population increase of approximately 60%, and found that the population has continued to increase since the end of the project. The estimated population size in 2017 was 368-481 individuals (compared to 327-426 after the end of the project in 2015). However, the report noted that the breeding population increase is largely in one project site (Parndorfer Platte-Heideboden), and in the other three project sites the populations are more or less stable. Reporting under the nature directives 2007-2012 states that the short-term and the long-term population trends of the species are increasing (in Austria) and that its breeding range trend is stable. An important legacy of the LIFE project is the continued participation and collaboration of the associated beneficiaries and stakeholders (farmers, hunters), including in a third great bustard LIFE project that is replicating the methods applied (e.g. cable burial, synchronous counting of bustards) in several national parks in Hungary. Due to the seamless continuation of almost all main project activities in the follow-on project (LIFE15 NAT/AT/000834), the sustainability of all project achievements is guaranteed at least until the end of 2022. After 2022, the sustainability of the project results will most likely be assured due to the well-established and effective networks the beneficiary established with stakeholders, and the particular interest of the coordinating beneficiary GG (Austrian Society for the conservation of Great Bustards) in great bustard protection in Austria. The ex-post study found that the coordination of the project with the agri-environmental scheme PUL was very effective, but highlighted that funding only extends until 2020. Therefore, it is of vital importance that the bustard-friendly management of the species' breeding and wintering sites continues after 2020 to secure a favourable conservation status of the great bustard in Austria in the long-term. The ex-post visit also confirmed the importance of great bustard as an umbrella species, whose conservation benefits many other species. The removal of medium-voltage power lines and the marking of high-voltage power lines also benefits other large birds that are vulnerable to collision with power lines, including several endangered bird of prey species. The project staff also count breeding numbers of other endangered birds such as Imperial eagle, white-tailed eagle, and Saker falcon, which are all listed in Annex 1 of the Birds Directive. This was an unplanned positive effect of the project and significantly contributed to improving the knowledge of the distribution of these species in eastern Austria. The ex-post report concluded that the project's benefits for stakeholders (e.g. farmers, tourism) are still valid more than two years after the project end, and the project's positive impact on the target species continues to be communicated to the public by the project website and social media.
