SocLap sap – working draft

4. FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION

The long-term goal of this plan is to restore the AEWA populations of the Eurasian Curlew to favourable conservation status¹¹, as demonstrated by its assessment as Least Concern against IUCN Red List criteria.

The purpose (i.e. over the next ten years) of this plan is to conserve important breeding and non-breeding habitats, increase breeding success, maximise juvenile and adult survival, and address key knowledge gaps. The plan therefore sets the following four objectives:

1. 
   Ensure sufficient and adequate habitats;
   
2. 
   Increase productivity;
   
3. 
   Increase survival rates;
   
4. 
   Fill key knowledge gaps.
   

The following nine results are required to achieve these four objectives:

1. 
   Ensure sufficient and adequate habitats
   

1.1. Important breeding sites for Eurasian Curlew are appropriately protected and managed.

1.2. Important staging, stopover and wintering sites for Eurasian Curlew are appropriately protected and managed.

2. 
   Increase productivity
   
   1. 
      The impact of farming operations on breeding success is minimized and beneficial farming practices are supported and encouraged.
      
   2. 
      Land management techniques that reduce levels of nest and chick predation to those associated with stable or increasing populations are promoted and investigated.
      

3. 
   Increase survival rates
   
   1. 
      Any harvest, if undertaken, is sustainable.
      

4. 
   Fill key knowledge gaps
   

4.1. The necessary data and information required to make an informed assessment of the conservation status of N. a. suschkini is obtained.

4.2. The necessary data and information required to provide a better understanding of N. a. arquata and N. a. orientalis populations in Russia is obtained.

4.3. Survey, monitoring and research activities on N. a. arquata are undertaken to address knowledge gaps and improve population and demographic estimates.

4.4. The impact of other poorly-understood threats is investigated.

In order to achieve these results, this ISSAP lists 32 actions that are grouped under the overarching objectives¹², summarised below. Table 5 lists each action and provides detailed information on: the result that each action will deliver towards; the Range States in which actions will take place; the timescales for completing actions; the level of priority afforded to each action; and the organisations responsible for the action.
This section of the plan lists the actions that will deliver towards the results listed above. For each action, an assessment of its urgency and importance is given (under the column “Priority”) as well as the timescale under which it should be achieved.
Key to priority ratings:

Critical: actions delivering towards results that will help prevent a rapid population decline of >30% over 10 years (i.e. to address ‘critical’ threats)

High: actions delivering towards results that will help prevent a population decline of 20-30% over 10 years (i.e. to address ‘high’ threats)

Medium: actions delivering towards results that will help prevent relatively slow, but significant, declines of 10-20% over 10 years (i.e. to address ‘high’ threats)

Low: actions delivering towards results that will help prevent local population declines or which is likely to have only a small impact on the population across the range. For certain Range States these actions could still be high priority at national level.

Other: a Result that is not possible to categorise with the above priority ratings.
Key to timescales:

Continuous: an ongoing or annual action

Short-term: completed within the next 1-3 years

Medium-term: completed within the next 1-5 years

Long-term: completed within the next 1-10 years

Actions under Objective 1 - Ensure sufficient and adequate habitats

Results		Action	Priority	Timescale			Responsibility
Important breeding sites for Eurasian Curlew are appropriately protected and managed.		1.1.1. Ensure all breeding sites of international importance for Eurasian Curlew are protected under the Ramsar Convention and/or the EU Birds Directive, as appropriate^13. Applicable to: All Range States with breeding populations.	Critical	Short-Medium			Government conservation agencies
		1.2.1. Ensure all other important breeding sites for Eurasian Curlew are protected under national or federal legislation, as appropriate, giving consideration to sites that host large populations as well as sites of importance for the purposes of maintenance of the breeding range. Applicable to: All Range States with breeding populations.	Critical	Short-Medium			Government conservation agencies
		1.3.1. At protected sites of importance for Eurasian Curlew: Inform central and local government of the importance and location of designated sites and/or sites proposed for future designation. Raise awareness of protected sites and Eurasian Curlew breeding requirements amongst relevant user-groups (e.g. farmers, hunters, foresters, tourism bodies). Regularly review management plans to ensure they include appropriate measures to conserve Eurasian Curlew populations and the habitats they require. Applicable to: All Range States with protected sites.	Critical	Short			Government conservation agencies & NGOs
		1.4.1. At all important breeding sites (i.e. protected and non-protected sites): Ensure appropriate land management practices are being carried out (see objective 2 for further details). Respond to potential negative impacts from proposed developments using Ramsar’s Avoid-Minimise-Compensate planning framework^14. Potential threats are likely to involve those relating to large-scale agricultural change, forestry, wind turbines, residential/commercial developments, oil/gas developments, tourism, and increased disturbance that may be associated with each. Applicable to: All Range States with breeding populations.	Critical	Continuous			Government conservation agencies & NGOs
1.2. Important staging, stopover and wintering sites for Eurasian Curlew are appropriately protected and managed.	1.2.1. Designate all non-breeding sites of international importance for Eurasian Curlew under the Ramsar Convention and/or the EU Birds Directive, as appropriate^15. Applicable to: All Range States with internationally important non-breeding populations. Existing sites have already been prioritised for Range States in the Arabian Peninsula^16.				Critical	Short-Medium		Government conservation agencies
	1.2.2. Designate other important non-breeding sites for Eurasian Curlew under national or local legislation, giving consideration to sites that host large populations as well as sites of importance for the purpose of maintaining range. Applicable to: All Range States with non-breeding populations.	Critical	Short-Medium			Government conservation agencies
	1.2.3. At protected sites of importance for Eurasian Curlew: Inform central and local government of the importance and location of designated sites and/or sites proposed for future designation. Raise awareness of protected sites and Eurasian Curlew non-breeding requirements amongst relevant user-groups (e.g. fisheries interests, hunters, etc). Regularly review management plans for protected sites to ensure they are appropriate for the purposes of the conservation of Eurasian Curlew populations and the habitats they require, paying particular attention to the threats identified in this ISSAP. Applicable to: All Range States with non-breeding populations.	Essential	Immediate			Government conservation agencies & NGOs
	1.2.4. Respond to potential negative impacts from proposed developments using Ramsar’s Avoid-Minimise-Compensate planning framework^17. Potential threats are likely to involve those arising from proposals relating to drainage, large-scale agricultural change, forestry, wind turbines, residential/commercial developments, oil/gas developments, tourism, and increased disturbance or pollution that may be associated with each. Applicable to: All Range States with non-breeding populations.	Critical	Immediate/ Continuous			Government conservation agencies & NGOs working with planning and industry

Actions under Objective 2 - Increase productivity

Results	Action	Priority	Timescale	Responsibility
2.1. The impact of farming operations on breeding success is minimized and beneficial farming practices are supported and encouraged.	2.1.1. Within important breeding sites: Raise awareness amongst farming communities of the importance of the area for Eurasian Curlew, and highlight the critical role of farming in conserving the species. Work proactively with farming communities to encourage the uptake of beneficial management practices such as delayed mowing of grasslands, appropriate grazing regimes, stock reduction to minimise nest trampling, conservation and management of wetlands, and minimising other detrimental field operations (e.g. rolling, spraying, etc.) and disturbance during the breeding season. Support the restoration of degraded habitats (e.g. lowland wet grassland, lowland raised bogs, etc). Applicable to: All Range States with breeding populations.	Critical	Continuous	Government conservation agencies & NGOs
	2.1.2. Ensure appropriate agri-environment options and other conservation support schemes are (1) available and adequately-funded to support farmers and other land managers in carrying out conservation management and (2) targeted to where they will deliver the greatest benefit. Applicable to: All Range States with breeding populations	Critical	Short	Government conservation agencies & NGOs
	2.1.3. Ensure wider agricultural support mechanisms are available to maintain agricultural activity at important breeding sites at risk from land abandonment. Applicable to: All Range States with breeding populations	Medium	Medium	Government agricultural departments,Government conservation agencies, NGOs & farming bodies
Land management techniques that reduce levels of nest and chick predation to those associated with stable or increasing populations are promoted and investigated.	At important breeding sites where high levels of nest and chick predation are either known or suspected to be responsible for breeding population declines: Promote the uptake of, and monitor the effectiveness of, different land management techniques designed to reduce predation pressure through non-lethal means (e.g. manipulation of patch dynamics, removal of landscape features associated with habitat fragmentation and increased predation rates - such as small woodlands, scrub, perch posts, pylons, etc). Investigate the effectiveness of predator control as a potential conservation tool (in tandem with habitat management) in scenarios when achieving optimal habitat conditions may not be feasible in the short-term. Applicable to: All Range States with breeding populations that are declining due to high rates of predation.	Critical	Medium	Government conservation agencies, NGOs & academic institutions

Actions under Objective 3 – Increase survival

Result	Action	Priority	Timescale	Responsibility
3.1. Any harvest, if undertaken, is sustainable.	3.1.1. Launch an adaptive harvest management (AHM) process for the portion of the N. a. arquata population that spend part of the life cycle in France where hunting is permitted. Applicable to: France.	Other	Short	AEWA, Government conservation agencies, Hunting representatives & NGOs
	3.1.2. Reinstate a complete moratorium of hunting in France until the AHM process has established its recommendations which are to be implemented if and when hunting is re-opened. Applicable to: France.	Other	Short	Government conservation agency
	3.1.3. Quantify the level of hunting in southern European Russia as a first step towards an AHM process for the eastern European portion of the N. a. arquata population. Applicable to: Russia.	Other	Short	Government conservation agencies & NGOs
	3.1.4. Ensure that where Eurasian Curlew are a protected species, the law is enforced and that illegal killing is minimised through the most appropriate means (e.g. provision of information and advice to hunters). Applicable to: All Range States.	Other	Continuous	Government conservation agencies & NGOs
	3.1.5. Take immediate action to reduce hunting pressure on N. a. suschkini whilst the wider knowledge gaps concerning this subspecies are being addressed. Applicable to: Russia and Kazakhstan.	High	Short	Government conservation agencies