PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The EuroBirdPortal (EBP) is a European Bird Census Council (EBCC) project, developed through a partnership of ornithological organisations in 31 countries. It combines real-time data collected and uploaded to online platforms by birdwatchers across Europe to track changes in bird distribution.
Currently, data on just 137 bird species is collected using simple standardised protocols (complete lists) or no protocol at all (casual observations). The EBP then automatically aggregates this data from 21 different systems and presents it via the LIVE EBP viewer in weekly animated maps going back to January 2010.
These maps have, for example, been used to track the spread of avian flu across Europe, but limited capacity means the EPB is not used to its full potential. 2 big gaps remain:
- the ability to collect and manage data on all 841 bird species in Europe
- poor geographic coverage, particularly in south-eastern Europe
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the LIFE EPB Reinforcement project is to strengthen the capacity of the EBP so it can contribute more effectively to EU biodiversity and other related policy areas. A significant element of this will be aligning the EBP with 2 other EBCC projects:
- the European Breeding Bird Atlas 2 (EBBA2)
- the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS)
The project’s specific aims are:
- increase the overall quantity and quality of bird-related data collected in Europe by:
- increasing participation in the International Census Plot (ICP) scheme in Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Moldova
- enriching the data stored in the EBP databank by making full use of the EBP data standard to properly identify and characterise the data collected using specific or more standardised protocols
- promoting the use of more structured data collection protocols (e.g. complete lists)
- increasing the volume of standardised bird monitoring data, particularly from south-eastern and eastern Europe
- improving the LIVE EBBA2 concept developed by EUROPABON to produce maps of change, distribution and probability of occurrence for the breeding season for a set of farmland bird species combing EBP and PECBMS data from the period 2018-2025
- producing a pilot to demonstrate how improved EBP capabilities could be applied to assess the overall adequacy of the Natura 2000 network for the protection of terrestrial migratory bird species during the migration period
- improve the capacity of the EBP and enhancing its contribution to the EU Birds Directive and the 2030 Biodiversity Strategy
RESULTS
The project’s expected results are:
- operational local online bird portals in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia
- increase in the number of participants, the overall amount of data and the overall amount of data collected using more structured protocols in south-eastern Europe by 40%, 30% and 20% respectively compared to 2022 baseline levels, and by 5%, 10% and 20% globally
- establishment of networks in the International Census Plots (ICP) scheme of at least 70 plots established across Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia
- inclusion of all species recorded in Europe in the EBP data flow, and proper identification and characterisation in line with standardised protocols
- depiction of the majority of species regularly occurring in Europe on the EBP viewer (taking into account data and visualisation protocols for sensitive species)
- EBBA2-like maps for distribution (50 x 50 km resolution), probability of occurrence and change (10x10km) for the Turtle Dove and the other 38 bird species included in the Farmland Bird Index (FBI) using data collected by the EBP and the PECBMS 2018-2025
- a pilot assessment of the overall adequacy of the Natura 2000 network for the protection of terrestrial migratory bird species during the migration period
