BASC hopes a Welsh government research grant will support conservation measures to increase the numbers of Greenland white-fronted geese on the Dyfi Estuary.
RSPB Cymru, acting on behalf of the Welsh Greenland white-fronted geese partnership, has been awarded £24,000 on top of £15,000 of funding made available last year.
BASC works on the partnership alongside Welsh government, The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), the RSPB, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the Dyfi, Mawddach & Dysynni Wildfowlers’ Association and ecologist Mick Green.
Ian Danby, BASC’s head of biodiversity, said: “This funding enables us to further the Welsh government’s wishes to continue working together to conserve Greenland white-fronted geese.
“BASC has worked closely with local wildfowlers and conservation partners over many years to secure funds to research the movements of these geese that will allow us to target specific habitat work to benefit them. We are extremely excited that we have the resources to make real progress towards that aim.”
Greenland white-fronted geese are a vital part of the Dyfi Estuary SPA, although fewer than 20 birds now winter in the area. The wintering population has declined by 83% between 1990 and 2016 – which is a faster decline than the global average.
A voluntary moratorium on shooting Greenland white-fronted geese in Wales has been in place for more than 40 years. Last August, the Welsh government resisted calls to remove the gees from the quarry list after BASC successfully argued they are best protected by organisations with local knowledge working for their continued conservation.
Mike Sherman, of Dyfi, Mawddach & Dysynni Wildfowlers’ Association, said: “Wildfowlers have been taking conservation measures to protect and support Greenland white-fronted geese on the Dyfi since the early 1970s and worked closely with conservation partners to reach this shared objective.
“We are delighted with the expertise drawn together for this work and the continued support from local landowners and farmers to permit us access to land used by the geese.”
ENDS
For more information, please contact BASC's press office on 01244 573007 or email press@basc.org.uk
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