It's not what you think.

Before you get excited or cry 'foul' - this is not going to be a blog on the relative merits of UK membership of the European Union.  Instead, I am going to reflect on my participation in last week's meeting of the European Birdlife partnership in Austria. 

Last week, representatives from 35 of the 49 partners from across Europe and Central Asia (with Kazakhstan the most eastern of countries) met in the Neusiedler See National Park on the Austrian-Hungarian border. 

This was a once in six year gathering: our job, to work out how we should collaborate and ensure our collective efforts helped Europe realise it commitments to halting the loss of biodiversity and begin its recovery by 2020.  Honking geese, ducks and cranes provided an entertaining backing track to our discussions.

Austrian commuting

We invest in Birdlife International for three main reasons:
-  our migrants spend much of the year away from the UK and so to help them we need to act across the flyway
- much of our land and sea use in the UK is governed by common policies and regulations in the EU.  To make progress it helps that we have partners in each of the Member States keen to influence national governments.
- we think we can make a difference to wildlife around the world by sharing expertise and some capacity with partners on the ground.  Our track record in this area (on vultures, rainforests, albatrosses etc is pretty impressive).

It was good to get away from the UK for a few days - get a different perspective on what's going on in the world and hatch a plan to save nature in Europe.

We think we have problems...

...In Iceland, there are plans for major currently unplanned afforestation programme supported by government grants to cover 97% of costs.  This brought back memories of the tax-breaks that led to the destruction of the Scottish Flow Country in the 1970s/1980s.  The big difference is that Birdlife Iceland are facing this threat with just one staff member.
...in the Serbia, and elsewhere in the Balkans, major destruction of deciduous woodlands has taken place to cater for the massive increase in demand for wood fuel brought about by growing poverty caused by the collapse of the Greek economy.
...in Malta, colleagues wake every day to the sound of gunfire over their houses as the hunters embark on their endless campaign to shoot anything that flies - dead birds falling into their gardens.

And we think we know best but...

...in Italy, major plans to link up protected areas in the north are helping to restore wildlife at scale (following the Dutch lead).
...in Kazakhstan, our partners - with a help from RSPB colleagues) have used evidence to convince the government to designate and manage massive areas (and I mean massive - one million hectares) as protected areas.  This has helped restore the saiga antelope populations to over 135,000.
...in Spain, the partner which is celebrating its 60th anniversary next year has now sufficient capacity not only to have major impact on the wildlife in Spain, but also to support our partner in Morocco.  We feel good about about this as we spent many years helping to develop the partner but they became self-sufficient about a decade ago.
- in Bulgaria, following a successful programme to increase the Imperial Eagle population by 20%, they have now developed a partnership with an electricity company to reduce the impact of (killer) electric pylons.  Not satisfied with reducing impacts in Bulgaria, they are beginning to do the same in Sudan.

While capacity varies considerably across the partnership, there are a lot of common features: expertise, enthusiasm, dedication, pragmatism mixed with lofty ambition about how to overcome the short-term obsessions with economic growth that threatens to trample our already beleaguered European wildlife.

I left feeling good to be part of a community united by a common purpose, good to have learnt a great deal and good to have seen red-breasted goose.  The liver feels less good. But that's another story...

Spot the red-breasted goose.

  • One of the things birds do for us humans is remind us of a world without borders, without the ignorance and prejudice that so often haunts our attitudes to 'the other'. You've reminded us that we in the UK don't have a monopoly on conservation wisdom (not even the RSPB !) and of both the problems and achievements facing our partners around the world. Within our EU world, I found working with the LIFE and Interreg programmes quite inspiring and feel a fellow feeling when, for example, I come across LIFE in action in France. Knowing more about what is happening in other countries would help us understand some things which seem inexplicable - one that has struck me for a long time no is the huge problems - with big wildlife impacts - some of our European partners face with population loss from their remoter areas - far more remote and isolated than anything we can imagine, even in Scotland. As a forester my eye was, obviously, caught by the two forestry examples - we do have quite a bit of experience in how to locate new woodland without damaging wildlife (a painful learning experience, not to be wasted). The Serbian experience is an early warning of what could become a much more widespread experience as wood energy affects Europe's forestry markets: up until now Europe has been under-cutting its timber quite significantly (think of the 500,000 has of unmanaged woodland in England which is a key factor in the decline of some woodland birds) - we need to be prepared for the pendulum to swing the other way.

  • "Great stuff" Martin. All this illustrates why it is so important to work together where the experience of one nation on conservation issues can help another both in knowledge and perhaps in personnel assistance. In this context perhaps all European Birdlife members can bring more pressure on the Maltese authorities and the EU to stamp out this dreadful shooting. It is high time this barbaric practice was stopped completely.

    Keep up the good work with Birdlife International,it is vital. Can't spot the red-breasted goose though.