Collaboration
Cooperations
The protection of grassland birds, such as Black-tailed Godwits, Lapwings and Curlews, and their habitats are the focus of this project, also funded by the European Union under the LIFE programme. The aim is to create and connect optimal breeding and non-breeding areas along the East Atlantic Flyway. To this end, land use must be extensified and water levels optimised.
To network activities more closely in the future and to coordinate measures for successful meadow bird conservation, Strategic Conservation Plans for meadow bird habitats in Western Europe and in West Africa are being developed.
Meadow bird-friendly measures are being implemented in 27 project areas in Lower Saxony and in one large project area in the Dutch province of Fryslân.
A business model will be created and implemented to establish bird-friedly farming in wet grassland areas in Lower Saxony.
As a leverage project, the GrassBirdHabitats project has the important task of capacity building. Available public funding is to be acquired and utilised for the protection of meadow birds. The LIFE Godwit Flyway project originates directly from this successful approach.
The project runs from November 2020 until October 2030. Its total budget is around 27 million euros, including a 12 million share from the State of Lower Saxony.
As the coordinating beneficiary, the Lower Saxony Ministry for the Environment has commissioned the State Agency for Bird Conservation in the Lower Saxony Water Management, Coastal and Nature Protection Agency (NLWKN) to implement the project.
Partners in Lower Saxony are the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park Administration and the planning office BIO-CONSULT OS. Project partners in The Netherlands are the Province of Fryslân, the University of Groningen, the agricultural collective Collectief Súdwestkust, and the nature conservation association Bond Friese VogelWachten.