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Description
Montagu’s Harrier is very rare bird of prey in the Polish lowlands. It used to nest in wetlands. As a result of degradation of this type of habitat, it started (in the 80s) breeding in cereal crops and grassland. This gives the species a chance to survive in an increasingly human-transformed landscape, but at the same time creates new threats. Harriers start breeding late and the chicks leaving the nests (from mid-July) may fall at harvest time. The total size of the Polish population in the years 2018-2019 was estimated to be 2800 BP, which still constitutes ca. 19% of the birds breeding in the EU.
During the last decade, the population is declining at the average rate of -4.8% annually. Therefore, based on the IUCN A2 criterion, the Polish population of the Montagu’s harrier should be classified as “Vulnerable”.
Substantiation of the project implementation in the context of EU and national strategic documents:
- Directive 2009/147 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 November 2009 on the conservation of wild birds "Birds Directive".
- The National Action Plan for the Protection of Montagu’s harrier approved by the General Directorate for Environmental Protection
- Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of December 16, 2016 regarding the protection of animal species.
- The project is a continuation of activities implemented by our Society continuously since 2005. In previous years, the protection of the Montagu''s harrier was co-financed from various sources, including
Conservation measures will be implemented in regions of key importance for the species, i.e. those in which the Montagu''s harrier reaches high densities (source populations). High productivity is key to maintaining the national population of the species and the population in neighboring countries. Active protection is not only of regional importance, but positively affects the state of conservation of the species throughout its occurrence.