Long-tailed Duck Action Plan adopted by AEWA

At the 6th Meeting of Parties of the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement, held in Bonn, Germany from 9 to 14 November 2015, Parties adopted the Action Plan for the Long-tailed Duck.

The Plan covers the period 2016-2025 and has a goal to remove the Long-tailed Duck from the threatened categories of the IUCN Red List. It sets out six key results and 36 actions designed to significantly reduce direct anthropogenic mortality and understand the drivers of decline by 2025. These results are as follows:

Result 1: The impact of shipping activities – particularly mortality from operational oil pollution, and disturbance – is significantly reduced

Result 2: The level of fisheries bycatch is significantly reduced

Result 3: The level of mortality from hunting, if hunting continues, is sustainable

Result 4: A network of protected areas, covering all important sites throughout the lifecycle, is designated and maintained

Result 5: The understanding of population status is improved

Result 6: Key knowledge gaps about populations, demographics and threats are addressed

Many experts from range states contributed technical knowledge to the preparation of the Plan, and we are grateful to them all for their input. They are: Ib Krag Petersen, Stefan Pihl and Bent Ove Rasmussen (Denmark), Margus Ellermaa, the late Andres Kuresoo and Leho Luigujoe (Estonia), Jens-Kjeld Jensen and Maria Gunnleivsdóttir Hansen (Faroe Islands), Mikko Alhainen, Martti Hario, Aleksi Lehikoinen, Jukka Rintala and Tero Toivanen (Finland), Bernard Deceuninck (France), Jochen Bellebaum and Jan Kube (Germany), David Boertmann (Greenland), Árni Einarsson, Arnþór Garðarsson and Kristinn Skarphéðinsson (Iceland), Olivia Crowe (Ireland), Ainars Aunins, Vilnis Bernards and Antra Stipneice (Latvia), Mindaugas Dagys, Saulius Svazas and Ramunas Žydelis (Lithuania), Menno Hornman (Netherlands), Tomas Aarvak, Arnold Håland, Oddvar Heggøy and Svein-Håkon Lorentsen (Norway), Alexander Kondratyev (Russia), Kjell Larsson and Leif Nilsson (Sweden), Matt Parsons and David Stroud (United Kingdom), Sergey Dereliev (AEWA), Cy Griffin (FACE), Tim Bowman (USGS and Sea Duck Joint Venture), Szabolcs Nagy (Wetlands International) and Peter Cranswick and Anne Harrison (Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust).

The adoption of this Plan is an important step for the conservation of European Long-tailed Ducks, but much remains to be done to improve their conservation status. To this end, an AEWA International Working Group will be set up in 2016 to oversee the implementation of the Plan.