PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Fiener Bruch fens had traditionally been a stronghold for the great bustard (Otis tarda). Agricultural improvement (of productivity) in 1968 included lowering the water table, reseeding, ploughing, raising nutrient inputs and intensifying stocking rates. Great bustard numbers using the site continued to decline (29 birds in 1989, six in 1993). There was a successful LIFE Great Bustard project nearby ( LIFE92 NAT/D/004838 - “Protecting great bustard habitats in Brandenburg”) and the Landkreis Jerichower Land sought to replicate that success.
OBJECTIVES
The project set out to gain management control of land to create an open, extensively grazed landscape with suitable nest sites; to create a network of corridors for movement; to provide low disturbance areas that would be cut for hay later in the year; and to provide captive bred birds to reintroduce. Management control was to be based on selective land purchase: 60 ha were to be bought. A formal nature protection area was to be established.
RESULTS
The declining great bustard population was stabilised at around 8-11 individuals, with one or two chicks reaching maturity each season;
The project bought a total of 97 ha, 37 ha more than envisaged. However, the additional acquisitions were coherent with the management plan developed by the project;
Some 700 willows (Salix spp.) were felled in order to achieve a more open landscape;
A 1.6 km power line was put underground in order to remove a threat to the great bustards;
A visitor viewing tower, monitoring stations and interpretive materials were produced.
Fiener Bruch birds were observed to have interbred with birds from the Brandenburg Life project; and
Legislative goals were achieved: a 143 ha strict nature reserve (“Naturschutzgebiet”) was established and a further 3 025 ha was awarded protected status as a great bustard refuge, with management prescriptions to favour the species and agri-environment scheme support; a A 3 677 ha Special Protection Area (SPA) was designated in October 2000. Lessons were learned from local opposition to the conservation management prescriptions. The declining great bustard population was stabilised at around 8-11 individuals, with one or two chicks reaching maturity each season;
The project bought a total of 97 ha, 37 ha more than envisaged. However, the additional acquisitions were coherent with the management plan developed by the project;
Some 700 willows (Salix spp.) were felled in order to achieve a more open landscape;
A 1.6 km power line was put underground in order to remove a threat to the great bustards;
A visitor viewing tower, monitoring stations and interpretive materials were produced.
Fiener Bruch birds were observed to have interbred with birds from the Brandenburg Life project; and
Legislative goals were achieved: a 143 ha strict nature reserve (“Naturschutzgebiet”) was established and a further 3 025 ha was awarded protected status as a great bustard refuge, with management prescriptions to favour the species and agri-environment scheme support; a A 3 677 ha Special Protection Area (SPA) was designated in October 2000. Lessons were learned from local opposition to the conservation management prescriptions.