Wetlands are considered to be one of the most productives and rich ecosystems throuought the world. It represents an undeniable source of ecosystem services and is essential to the maintenance of a remarkable biodiversity. In the Mediterranean Basin, there are 226 Ramsar sites to date that are considered as Wetlands of International Importance. BirdLife also identified 196 other sites that match the Ramsar Convention criteria. These numbers demonstrate the importance of the Mediterranean Basin for wetlands conservation. However, these sites are particularly vulnerable and damaged by the regional threats and more than half of them are already in critical situation or have already disappeared.

This widespread degradation of Mediterranean wetlands are threatening migratory species such as Dalmatian pelicans. Listed as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, the Dalmatian pelican is also listed on the Appendix I of the CITES, on the Appendices I and II of the CMS, on the Appendix II of Bern Convention, on the Appendix II of AEWA and on Appendix I of the European Birds Directive.
There is a reason why this bird is so often listed on nature conservation international conventions, including CMS: since the 17th century, 49 breeding sites for Dalmatian pelicans (representing nearly 80%) have disappeared. Nowadays, its presence in Europe is only limited to 13 wetlands of the Balkans and Caucasus. Without any conservation action, this regression of these hosting sites for Dalmatian pelicans will eventually cause the disappearance of the bird in the Mediterranean Basin. This trend makes it a Conservation Dependent species.

The Dalmatian Pelican is an umbrella species, meaning that its preservation will lead to other species' preservation sharing the same habitat. It will therefore be beneficial to the whole ecosystem. In fact, these sites host an exceptional but rare biodiversity in addition to the Dalmatian Pelicans and thus represent a crucial issue for the Mediterranean natural heritage. Europe's largest bird, world's rarest species of pelican and important cultural symbol, the Dalmatian Pelican is emblematic of the issues affecting Mediterranean wetlands of which preservation is an international priority.

Despite high levels of protection of the Program's targeted sites, they are under important anthropogenic pressures which are particularly affecting Dalmatian Pelicans populations. In fact, these protected areas, which represent high potentials in terms of exploitation of natural resources and summer tourism, are multiple-use areas left without effective protection of nature: laws enforcement and management of these protected areas are still insufficient because of the lack of resources and they need to be strengthened.

In this context, the Conservation Program “Dalmatian Pelicans and Wetlands in the Mediterranean Basin” will focus its efforts on Wetlands and more specifically on Skadar Lake National Park in Montenegro. This site holds the oldest colony of Dalmatian Pelicans in Europe and it is the single Montenegrin breeding site of the bird. The National Park of Skadar Lake, whose emblem is the Dalmatian pelican, is an important touristic site and is our partner on this program.

In fact, the philosophy of the Program lies on partnerships and networking between Noé Conservation, Tour du Valat and local conservation actors: National Park of Skadar Lake, CPRB and Euronatur. Besides, the Program deals with boths aspects of conservation and management of the Dalmatian Pelicans and their habitat, wetlands. In order to achieve this goal, local action plans will be elaborated in cooperation with people working on conservation issues and users (i.e. farmers, fishers…). This coordinated management plans will aim at preserving Dalmatian Pelicans and their habitat while considering local socio-economic assets and activities.

The Program relies on an innovative approach and is built around 4 complementary components:

1) Improving the scientific knowledge
To improve scientific knowledge on the species and its environment is a necessary step for an optimal implementation of conservation practices. Scientific knowledge provides an understanding of the ecological context and therefore an appropriate ground for conservation and environmental management plans.

2) Conserving Dalmatian Pelicans with an efficient site management

Thanks to the knowledge gathered on the ecology of the sites and together with management bodies, an action plan will be elaborated for the conservation of the species in situ. Each site-specific action plan will be integrated within the management plan of each site to ease its implementation. As part of this component, four activities have been planned

3) Supporting sustainable management and utilization of natural resources

The Program also aims at supporting local communities towards reaching a sustainable economic development.

4) Contributing to the integration of environmental issues

The integration of environmental issues and threats towards Dalmatian pelicans within the institutional context and dialogues with local communities is the fourth goal of the Program. Awareness campaigns will be run thanks to different tools such as information centers, meetings with land use planning actors and discussions between regional policy makers, site management bodies and neighboring populations. The results of the program will then be disseminated and spread with booklets, posters or cultural events. The main aim of this component is to raise awareness at local and political levels for decision makers to take into account environmental issues while dealing with land use planning and for local communities to move towards a more pelican friendly behavior.

The Program is structured in two different phases. The first one is designed as a two-year pilot phase aiming at setting the baseline of the Program. The second phase will then be a five-year implementation phase. The main expected outcome is the validation of Dalmatian Pelicans conservation and wetlands management plans based on common diagnosis and knowledge in cooperation with local stakeholders. To ensure the continuity of the actions implemented during the Program, the creation of a trust fund for sustainability shall be jointly considered.