Natura 2000 - NGOs role and cooperation with hunters & anglers

1. Natura 2000 - NGOsrole and cooperationwithhunters & anglers 16 June 2008. Lovasberény Sustainable wildlife use & Natura 2000 workshop Attila Králl MME / BirdLife Hungary

2. Contents • BirdLife International and its activities reg. Natura 2000 & Sustainable Hunting • Adoption to national levels • National BL-partners’ role in Natura 2000 designation, monitoring, etc. • BL partners in the region – their relationship with hunters / hunters association • Positive and negative examples • Future tasks, common goals

3. BirdLife InternationalThe largestpartnership of non-governmentalbirdconservationorganisations 101 countries, 95 organisations + 6 country programs

4. BirdLife International • Umbrellaorganization over 100 conservationNGOsworldwide – 40 in Europe • IBA-concept and criteriasystem - definition of theimportantareas; protection; monitoring – basics of SPA (N2K) designationin most of EU MemberStates • Birds and HabitatsDirectivesTaskForcegroupforthe „betterimplementation of thenaturedirectives” – legislation (ND), monitoring, policy

5. BirdLife International & SHI • 2001 - EC initiatednegotiationswith FACE and BirdLife International forthebetterunderstanding and implementation of NatureDirectives – „10 Proposedsteps” towardsthedialogue • „Key Concepts” – criucialdates of the life of wildbirds vs. hunting – underreconsideration • Management Plansfor UFCS birds of Annex II. (25/7+4) importantbackground, no legallybinding • Agreementon 10 points – 2004 • Awareness-risingCampaign – 2006

6. SHI onnationallevel • 2004 – ImplementationPlan of Sustainable Huning Initiative – firstintheregion • Agreedon a ratherhighlevel, butneverreallyused • Communicationdidnotreachthenationallevel – materialwastranslated, notused • Cooperationsare more local, notderivedfromthe SHI – (balancing of energy is important)

7. Role of nationalNGOsin Natura 2000 implementation • Proposalsfor SPA designation (basedon BL IBA-criteria) – canalso be regardedas a „shadowlist” • Participationinthe overall designation of N2K (biogeographicseminar) • Promoting, aw. raising) • Data collection and monitoring • Natura 2000 cases • Legislation

8. www.natura.2000.hu

12. Cooperation in general • BL Partnersare more or less aware of otherstakeholders’ interest, however, cooperationsusuallyremainwithinthe „greencircle” – MANY commongoals, much more thanwethink. • MME, SOS - cooperationwithhunters is more active (notvery) and therelationship is better • MME - No agreedcooperationwithanglers • SOS - Relationships with anglers would be similar if we wouldn’t have problem “Cormorant”

13. Positive examples of cooperation • Great Bustard LIFE projects – Slovakia and Hungary – should be finely elaborated (raptors, hunting of red deer, etc.) • Cooperation in waterbird protection (SOS) • Participation on the international exhibition of arms, hunting and angling – N2K working group (MME) • Raptor poisoning – Action Plan under prep., workshops, trainings involving MME • Cormorant census with anglers

14. Negativeexamples MME&SOS Shooting of protected birds • It is still possible to find shootee rare birds (in SPA Senné Egretta alba, Podiceps cristatus etc, in another SPAs for example Aquila heliaca). After evaluation of this cases is clear, that bird were shooted by local people which have near to hunters or they are hunters. Shooting of protected birds – the „Italian Hunterscrisis” - More definite and active management of theissue is needed Hunting of waterbirds • At Hrušovská zdrž which is part of pSPA Dunajské Luhy and in SPA Kráľová we register using of prohibited hunting methods by Italian hunters annualy (repeating rifle, duck models and voice records), shooting of protected bird by them. • In the winters 2003/2004 and 2005/06, when hunting was not so intensive at Danube near Bratislava, we counted siginficantly higher numbers of Ducks and Geese here. In 2005/06 was hunting prohibited in whole Slovakia because of Avian influenza and in this year we observed the highest numbers of Anser albifrons in history in surroundings of Bratislava.

15. General situation in Slovakia Generally restriction in NATURA 2000 for hunters are following: • Providing of no hunting activities in surrounding of nests of raptors and Black Stork in breeding season (SPA Tríbeč, Ondavská rovina, Košická kotlina, Bukovské vrchy. Four from 19 SPAs which are designated by public notice) • Providing of no hunting activities in sites important for Bustard (only in SPA Lehnice general prohibition of hunting between 16.1. and 15.5.) • Providing of no hunting activities for waterbirds in selected parts of waterreservoirs (in whole Slovakia almost 25 km2, what is 0,05 % of Slovak area) • Prohibition of use of boats in selected parts of waterreservoirs (but lot of exceptions from this prohibition are possible for hunters and anglers) • Some small restrictions concerning hunting methods in some areas but not hunting generaly

16. Tasksforthefuture„Ifyoualwaysworkonthesameway, theresultwillalways be thesame”Ken Smith - RSPB • Natura 2000 barometer – social part • Continue and strengthen cooperation/communication – using communication materials • Use each-other’s lobby force • Refresh, revise and use SHI docs on national level • Reintroduction of extinct species • Common tasks (act against poisoning and poaching, raptor controlling, problematic species, monitoring etc.)

17. ThanksforYourattention! Photo: Bence Máté