PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Illegal activities such as killing, trapping or trading birds still occur in many EU countries, with several countries identified as particular hotspots. In addition, widespread illegal practices outside the EU impact directly on migratory species within the EU. This forms a threat to the attainment of the objectives of the Birds Directive and the first target of the EU biodiversity strategy, which aims to improve the conservation status of EU species.
OBJECTIVES
The long-term goal of the four-year project was to significantly reduce the illegal killing, trapping and taking of birds in the EU and neighbouring Mediterranean region.
Specific objectives included:
- Expand and improve knowledge on the illegal killing of birds (IKB) in the target region, in order to identify and promote strategic actions within and beyond the scope of the project;
- Raise awareness and stimulate public demand to stop IKB;
- Support increased international and national advocacy efforts to ensure political commitment and technical capacity to enforce actions to end IKB;
- Design and implement pilot projects with key stakeholders in priority countries to demonstrate, share and promote effective approaches to reduce illegal killing and taking of birds;
- Contribute towards achieving the objectives of the Birds Directive, the EU roadmap for combating illegal killing, trapping and trade of birds, and the EU 2020 biodiversity strategy;
- Maintain and strengthen the networks of civil society organisations and stakeholder groups working together to address IKB.
RESULTS
LIFE Against Bird Crime significantly reduced the illegal killing and trapping of birds in the EU and the neighbouring Mediterranean region, by raising awareness and increasing capacity to implement conservation actions in key migratory flyway countries, in particular, in Cyprus, Croatia, Greece and Italy.
Specifically, the project team:
- Reduced illegal bird trapping, particularly within the Dhekelia Eastern Sovereign Base Area in Cyprus, by around 90% compared to the 2015-2016 baseline.
- Used Acoustic Recording Units as an innovative tool to record illegal hunting for the first time in Greece.
- Successfully included volunteers in actions to monitor and detect poaching in the project countries.
- Removed poaching hides at the Natura 2000 site “Dravske akumulacije” in Croatia.
- Conducted ‘Operation Recall’ in Italy, a cooperative action by LIPU/BirdLife Italy volunteer guards and CUFA (Officers' Club of the Armed Forces of Italy) against the illicit use of electronic call and recorders for hunting larks and thrushes, resulting in 680 checks, with 132 administrative cases, and 77 crime cases with 71 persons reported to judicial authorities.
- HOS-Hellenic Ornithological Society assisted police raids at the open market of Schisto in Greece (with its frequent illegal trade in native wild birds). Significant numbers of wild birds were confiscated and released back into the wild. Following these coordinated efforts, the trade has decreased.
Monitoring data showed, on average, an overall reduction of 25-30% in illegal bird killing. This conservation success resulted in the saving of hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. However, this cannot be solely attributed to the project, as many non-monitored factors have measurable impacts both positive (e.g. decreased hunting tourism in Croatia during the pandemic) and negative (e.g. law relaxation in Cyprus).
The project partnership helped develop the Rome Strategic Plan (2020-2030), which requires contracting governments to achieve at least a 50% reduction in IKB within their territories by 2030 (2020 baseline). All four project countries submitted scoreboards for the second assessment (2020-2021). The project team has systematically lobbied government officials and relevant authorities to take drastic action against IKB.
Among the main national policy successes were that the common quail shooting season was shortened for 20 days, as a direct result of BIOM’s (BirdLife partner organization in Croatia) “Black August” campaign, which is estimated to have resulted in around 20 000 fewer quail being illegally shot per year in Croatia. In Greece, the endorsement of Local Action Plans against IKB (mainly focused on saving the vulnerable European turtle doves from poaching), is now enforced every spring in the Ionian Islands.
The Flight for Survival information campaign reached over 19 million EU citizens. All project partners also developed numerous educational activities for schools.
Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).
