Curlew in danger - protection of the Eurasian curlew Numenius arquata in Poland

ongoing

The main objective of the project is to stabilize the Eurasian curlew population in its 14 refuges in Poland (incl. 11 SPAs) and its reconstruction in the longer term. The project consortium consists of: PTOP (main benficiary), TP Bocian, Biebrza National Park, RDOŚ in Poznań and RDOŚ in Warsaw. The implementation of the project is planned for the years 2024-2029, in the main refuges of the species, where over 75% of the national population nests. All activities were planned in response to the diagnosed threats, based on the experience of the beneficiaries and recognition of field conditions, as well as based on good practice solutions with proven effectiveness in other projects. The basis for the selection of most methods and tools used in the application was the National Plan for the Conservation of the Eurasian Curlew, approved by GDOŚ in 2018. The project plans to improve the quality of the curlew's habitat over an area of at least 1,000 hectares, including habitat use in accordance with the requirements of the curlew over an area of at least 700 hectares, land acquisition (185 hectares), habitat shaping through open space restoration (195 hectares), and improvement of hydrological conditions over an area of at least 500 hectares. Active protection will cover at least 80 curlew nests per year, including protecting them with electric fences, egg incubation and aviary breeding. Tasks have also been planned to increase the efficiency of the species management system on a national and regional scale (e.g. verification and update of plans for conservation tasks and the National Program for the Protection of the Eurasian Curlew), as well as extensive monitoring and evaluation, communication and activities related to maintaining durability and replication, that will enable further use of the project results. An important expected result of the project is to increase the productivity of the curlew population to the level of >0.5 fledglings per breeding pair.