PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The world breeding population of the Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is estimated at 7 347 - 8 993 pairs, with the Mediterranean-Black Sea flyway populations holding around 42-54% of the global population of the species. Its breeding distribution is still restricted to a small number of sites, which makes the species extremely vulnerable. Recent population increases have only taken place in a few colonies, masking fluctuations and decreases observed elsewhere. The species still needs significant conservation efforts, given the low population size, vulnerability of the habitats, and existing threats.
It is still not generally understood that the Dalmatian pelican, a short-distance migrant in southeast Europe, with survival rates around 80% per year for adults and less than 60% for birds under 2 years old, remains entirely dependent on conservation measures. Despite the measures undertaken so far, many threats persist: collisions with powerlines, unfulfilled requirements in nesting and feeding habitats, disturbance of highly vulnerable colonies, direct persecution, hostility by fishers and entanglement in fishing nets.
Moreover, poor standardisation in monitoring and reporting often result in a misleading, an over-optimistic view of its conservation status, underestimating the indisputable fact that the fate of the Dalmatian pelican heavily relies on the quality of wetland management and protection measures.
OBJECTIVES
The Pelican Way of LIFE project was a major effort for the conservation of the Dalmatian pelican, at EU and global scale. The project aimed to reduce the threats and to improve the habitats in 27 Natura 2000 sites (SPAs) in Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, covering all of the EU breeding range, and Ukraine. In addition, the project supported capacity building and research in Turkey, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
The project had the following objectives:
- improve knowledge on the importance of specific threats, sites, migration ecology, numbers, distribution and reproductive success, for use in future management and conservation activities
- development of a standardised monitoring protocol, shared with the other countries in which the Dalmatian pelican population occurs, and training of conservationists
- involve local stakeholders in a set of conservation measures to reduce illegal killing and disturbance at key sites along the fly way
- reduce direct mortality from collisions with power lines
- improve nesting conditions through habitat improvement actions and patrolling
- enhance community pride and support for the conservation of Dalmatian pelican, and the Natura 2000 sites
- raise awareness of local people about the species, and to increase the engagement of stakeholders in the conservation of the Dalmatian pelican.
The project was to apply a flyway approach. One objective in the Danube Delta was to create new breeding colonies on the Ukrainian side to increase the number of breeding sites, and in this way decrease the global threat to the species. Similarly, supporting conservation in other countries along the flyway was to be beneficial for the EU breeding population.
In addition to Dalmatian pelican, the conservation measure implemented in the 27 SPAs were expected to be beneficial to a large number of other species of Community interest. The project would support the better implementation of the EU Birds Directive, the European Species Action Plan for the Dalmatian Pelican, and the International Species Action Plan for the Dalmatian Pelican developed in the frame of the LIFE EuroSAP project (LIFE14 PRE/UK/000002), as well as national action plans for Dalmatian pelican in Bulgaria and Romania.
RESULTS
The project fully reached all of its objectives.
The project focused on key objectives to ensure the recovery of the Dalmatian pelican population in southeastern Europe. It enhanced research to understand population size, reproduction, migration patterns and threats, engaged local stakeholders to reduce illegal activities, and improved nesting conditions through habitat restoration and the construction of breeding platforms. The Pelican Way of LIFE initiative also worked to minimise pelican mortality by addressing hazards such as power lines. In addition, it fostered pride, encouraged support for conservation efforts, and raised awareness in local communities, boosting the number of stakeholders engaged in protecting this iconic species and vital habitats, encompassing 27 Natura 2000 sites across Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and also 2 sites in Ukraine.
Activities carried out to support Dalmatian pelican populations achieved significant milestones, such as the establishment of 2 new colonies in Bulgaria. The avian flu outbreak in 2022 caused a severe decline in Dalmatian pelican numbers across Europe, interrupting upward population growth trends. Despite this setback, however, the project played an important role in stabilising the population and supporting its recovery in the aftermath of the outbreak. Pelican Way of LIFE has laid the foundation for future rewilding efforts focused on the Dalmatian pelican and its habitats, while also promoting awareness, community involvement, education and nature-based tourism. These efforts provide hope for the comeback of these majestic birds across European landscapes.
The roosting and breeding platforms built during the initiative will continue to be maintained and supported by partners in Bulgaria and Ukraine to further enhance the breeding success of the species. A unified monitoring approach developed across all project countries will be used for future research on the species. Standardised protocols and a GIS database have also been created to centralise and analyse collected data. Some actions piloted within the Pelican Way of LIFE initiative can be replicated in the future. The partners will also continue to promote nature-based tourism, particularly birdwatching tourism, in wetland areas. Furthermore, the signboards and information boards installed across all participating countries during the initiative will continue to be maintained and supported. The communication and educational materials (videos, articles, games and more) created throughout the project’s lifetime will continue to be used by the partners through their communication channels. Patrolling activities and the training of fishermen and boatmen can be successfully replicated in other initiatives focused on the protection of water birds.
Concrete achieved results include:
- 24 Dalmatian pelicans tracked by satellite transmitters and 300 pelicans ringed to reveal the importance of the threats, site use, and migration ecology, to guide future conservation measures
- improved knowledge of the key stopover and concentration areas by organising 9 simultaneous pelican counts across Balkan countries to help better planning of the conservation actions
- stabilisation of the distinct Dalmatian pelican subpopulation in western Greece, survival and stabilisation of the newly established colonies in Belene (Bulgaria) and Lake Tasaul (Romania), and overall stabilisation of the Dalmatian pelican population following the outbreak of avian influenza in 2022, with 2 new breeding colonies established with more than 100 nests recorded in 2025
- data on attitudes of fishers to pelican and fish-eating birds at key sites in Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Ukraine systematically collected to support conservation measures
- improved breeding and roosting conditions by organising 7 volunteer camps to work on improving the habitats and nesting facilities, resulting in the provision of 12 new breeding platforms over water in the Belene island complex, Mandra-Poda (Bulgaria), Anankin Kut, Ermakov Island and Kartal lake (Ukraine), and restoration of old one (Belene island complex, Mandra- Poda)
- reduced species disturbance and mortality by persecution by introducing 7 new patrol and surveillance schemes at 7 Natura 2000 sites (SPAs) - Belene island, Ovcharitsa, Rozov Kladentes, Studen Kladentes, Lakes Tasaul-Corbu, Amvrakikos Gulf and Messolonghi wetland, with over 1 000 visits for surveillance and monitoring purposesreduced collisions with power-lines in Bulgaria and Romania through the installation of visual bird diverters along more than 10 km of power-lines in key SPAs of international importance for the Dalmatian pelican, whereas in Greece 4 km of lines have been completely insulated and another 4 km have been buried
- more than 30 experts from the project countries, and Turkey, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia, are trained in pelican monitoring and conservation techniques
- key stakeholders trained in more than 10 workshops on methods to reduce the conflict between fish-eating birds and human activities can cause disturbance – aquaculture farmers, anglers, boatmen, tourist guides and Management Authority staff
- active involvement of relevant stakeholders and volunteers in species conservation, including with over 5 000 local people and all responsible public authorities
- Over 10 000 children and students involved in educational activities by organising 3 festivals and 2 exhibitions, 3 ‘Olympics’ and one educational camp, more than 50 school visits and 2 educational programmes in 26 schools
- improved visitor facilities at key wetlands on the Black Sea coast and along the Danube by making 10 tourism agreements, 3 bird-watching programmes and 3 tourist routes
- further communication, dissemination and awareness raising activities include: 5 professional photo missions and over 100 partner-led photo-shoots producing over 2 000 photos and 4 professional video missions and many field shoots producing 75 short videos, 59 promotional materials distributed in thousands of copies, 121 articles on the project communication channels attracting 122 000 views, 12 information panels installed, numerous media visits, 1 700 publications and posts reaching over 10 million people and 2 108 social media posts reaching over 700 000 people.
