PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) is a globally threatened Eurasian bird species, with a world population of only a few thousand breeding pairs. Hungary is home to the largest population in the EU – in 2010, 62% of the species was found in the country, including 117 nesting pairs. Since the 1980s, the population has been slowly increasing in Hungary, but this small population is still vulnerable due to the limited number and quality of available habitats.
The conservation status of the imperial eagle in Hungary is seriously threatened by the exponential increase in deliberate killings: poisoning began in 2005 and shooting is also a problem. A total of 54 imperial eagles are believed to have been killed in the past few years – 23.1% of the national and 14.2% of the EU breeding population in 2010. Such killings threaten to reverse the positive population trend of the imperial eagle in Hungary and in neighbouring countries.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the HELICON project was to improve the conservation status of the eastern imperial eagle population in Hungary by significantly reducing non-natural deaths caused by persecution incidents.
The project specifically aimed to decrease the direct negative effects of persecution incidents on the Hungarian imperial eagle population by setting up a veterinary system and best-practice protocol, satellite tracking, nest guarding at key Natura 2000 network sites (SPAs), providing safe feeding places and constructing artificial nests.
HELICON also proposed to increase the chances of detecting illegal activities and imposing criminal sentences by conducting field surveys, setting up a hotline, creating a bird-crime database, establishing a protocol for investigating incidents, setting up an anti-bird-crime action group and educating stakeholders.
The project was designed to increase stakeholder awareness of the overestimated impact of raptor species on game populations and of alternative eagle-friendly game management methods.
Another aim was to increase public awareness of the importance of imperial eagle conservation and of the possible consequences of persecution incidents.
RESULTS
The HELICON project successfully met its objectives and ultimately maintained a steady growth of the eastern imperial eagle population in Hungary. While the national population of the imperial eagle was stable at the beginning of the project between 2012 and 2014, it showed a significant (36%) increase by 2015-2016, reaching 205 occupied nests in 2016.
Cases of poisoning were detected and prosecuted more effectively, while the annual number of detected bird crime incidents fell by an average of 37% in the last three years of the project. This was achieved by laying a firm basis for anti-poisoning activities by creating protocols, a working group and the first anti-poison dog unit in the region. The project purchased 10 farmyards (total area 5.35 hectares) and transformed them into optimal breeding environments for imperial eagles through game and eagle-friendly habitat management.
A visitor centre was set up as the main facility for sustained project actions. The centre hosts exhibitions for the general public and serves as a scientific centre for conservationists working in the region. It also acts as a regional refuge for injured strictly protected species.
Helped by the popularity of the topic, the project made a substantial number of people in Hungary and abroad more aware of the imperial eagle, bird crimes - including deliberate poisoning, and the related conservation challenges. HELICON attracted nearly half a million unique visitors to its website.
The project drafted a conservation management plan of the sample area and this was approved by the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture. It also set up and trained a highly valuable anti-poisoning network of stakeholders, which includes conservationists, hunters, veterinarians, farmers, police, prosecutors and judges.
HELICON established the first multi-partner collaboration and the first field dog unit for Central Europe to detect, investigate and mitigate wildlife crime, particularly illegal poisoning.
The project showed the benefits of eagle and small game-friendly habitat management to hunters, who are a key stakeholder group in the illegal poisoning issue. It also demonstrated to farmers that the best practices of eagle and small game-friendly habitat management can bring in EU rural agri-environmental funding, as an alternative to direct agricultural payments in less productive agricultural areas.
The project was highly relevant to the implementation of the Birds and Habitat Directives and agri-environmental schemes, as the project’s conservation management aimed to improve the conservation status of Natura 2000 habitats and that of the eastern Imperial eagle.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).
