Nature News/Winter 2020
Monitorin The Goose & Swan M Around 1.2 million geese and swans winter in the UK, over half of which are migratory. The Goose & Swan Monitoring Programme (GSMP), a partnership between JNCC, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) and Scottish Natural Heritage, monitors the abundance and breeding success of populations of 11 goose and two swan species in the UK and internationally for some species. Several surveyor networks of volunteers, including WWT, carry out co-ordinated counts during the autumn and winter, and WWT collates these data on behalf of the GSMP partnership. This information is used in the production of national and international population estimates that feed into Official Statistics and Biodiversity Indicators. The UK is one of the most important wintering areas for geese and swans in Europe. Britain and Ireland have wintering populations including all Greenland pink-footed and barnacle geese and Icelandic pink-footed geese. The majority of Icelandic whooper swans and around a quarter of Northwest European Bewick’s swans also winter in Britain and Ireland.
Migratory waterbirds are protected under international agreements and over half of wintering geese and swans in the UK are migratory
Migratory species need suitable and safe habitat in their breeding and wintering grounds and along their migration routes, which often cross country borders. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals therefore commits each participating country, including the UK, to measures protecting migratory species in its territories. Under this Convention, the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) provides for flyway-wide conservation and management of migratory geese and swans, e.g. through the European Goose Management Platform. AEWA commits to a periodic comprehensive international census to produce a flyway-wide population estimate for many goose and swan species during winter months, when they are easier to count. The GSMP is instrumental in this census. The International Swan Census, a comprehensive five-yearly count in all countries holding migratory Whooper and Bewick’s Swans, produces up-to-date population estimates for the whole flyway. International goose counts take place every three to five years, and many species are also counted annually to monitor the wintering populations in the UK. Further details about these censuses and how to take part can be found on the GSMP website.
Kirsi Peck Biodiversity Support Officer kirsi.peck@jncc.gov.uk Bewicks Swan © Kentish Plumber / Creative Commons License
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Barnacle Geese © Shutterstock
