The year started off with an expert mission to Azerbaijan
in January with the aim to estimate the number of Lesser
White-fronted Geese wintering in the country and also
to possibly identify new key sites used by the species.
Unusually cold winter weather hampered monitoring efforts
at many sites, but Lesser White-fronted Geese were sighted
at Aggol National Park. The expert team donated two telescopes
to the Kizil Agach Nature Reserve where it carried out
a two-day training and awareness-raising workshop with
Nature Reserve staff. Several other conservation projects
in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan - focusing on monitoring
of the species as well as reducing the threat from hunting
at key sites - are also being implemented this year.

Another big step forward is the launch of a website
for the AEWA Lesser White-fronted Goose International
Working Group. The new website can be accessed at http://lesserwhitefrontedgoose.aewa.info.
The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat has, in addition, developed
an internal workspace which will facilitate communication
and decision-making amongst Working Group members in
the inter-sessional periods between meetings.

Another
new communication tool is a general information poster
highlighting the urgent need for conservation
action for the Lesser White-fronted Goose. The poster
was produced by the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat in the run-up
to the 5th Session of the Meeting of the AEWA Parties
in May in La Rochelle, France. It is now available in
English, Russian, Kazakh as well as Arabic and
PDF versions are available for download on the International
Working Group website.

The EU LIFE+ project “Safeguarding the Lesser
White-fronted Goose along its European Flyway” is
also coming into full swing, with an international workshop
on identification and monitoring of the species taking
place in late September at Hortobagy National Park in
Hungary. The workshop is organised by WWF Finland and
the Hortobagy National Park Directorate.

As part of a general effort to enhance knowledge of
identification and monitoring practices, the UNEP/AEWA
Secretariat has collaborated with WWF Finland and the
Norwegian Ornithological Society to produce a field guide
for distribution amongst ornithologists, National Park
wardens and hunters. The field guide is currently available
in English with plans to produce further language versions
within the coming months. In connection with the LIFE+
project and the production of the field guide, the Norwegian
Ornithological Society has also developed a database
where Lesser White-fronted Goose observations from all
sub-populations can now be entered. Sightings can be
added on the www.piskulka.net website
under the heading “Observations".

A major highlight in 2012 still to come is the second meeting
of the AEWA Lesser White-fronted Goose International Working
Group, which is set to take place from 9 to 11 November
2012 at Lake Kerkini in Greece. Agenda items will include
a progress report on the implementation of the Lesser White-fronted
Goose Single Species Action Plan as well as draft proposals
for a network of critical sites and a common monitoring
scheme for the species. In addition, the Working Group
will reevaluate priority conservation measures for the
next inter-sessional period of 2012 - 2014 and discuss
the revision of the Species Action Plan which is expected
to be completed in 2013.

The conservation work for the Lesser White-fronted Goose
continues to receive both financial and technical support
from many active Range States. The activities mentioned
above have been funded through voluntary contributions
from the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management,
the Finnish Ministry of the Environment and the German
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear Safety as well as through the EU LIFE+ programme.

For more information please visit the website of the
AEWA
Lesser White-fronted Goose International Working Group at: http://lesserwhitefrontedgoose.aewa.info or contact the International Coordinator for the Lesser
White-fronted Goose, Ms.
Nina Mikander.