Works on the National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Great Snipe are underway. By way of reminder, the Action Plan will determine as follows: the current state of knowledge concerning the species, population distribution, assessment of suitable conservation status, analysis of threats and their sources, conservation tasks and the roadmap for research and monitoring.

Priorities of individual tasks, their duration and approximate budgets will be outlined. The program will be prepared in agreement with the General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ) and warranted by the end of 2016.

The guidelines will be developed based on empirical data acquired from the majority of sites in Poland. In order to avoid “duplicating” data, the scope of our works was planned in agreement with the coordinator of national great snipe monitoring (OTOP). In this way the investigations carried out as part of the project focus on identifying new breeding sites, determining the types and parameters of habitats surrounding active and historical leks, as well as the food resources. In 2014 we have collected data from the Lublin region, Biebrza Wetlands, and the Upper Narew River Valley. This year, we continue this work expanding its scope to the remaining sites.

In the same time, we are organizing meetings with GDOŚ and Regional Directorates for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ) in Białystok and Lublin in order to plan the scope of the Great Snipe Action Plan. The majority of the sites are located in Natura 2000 areas, which makes it possible to introduce conservation recommendations directly into the Conservation Measures Plan (CMP) for these sites. In contrast to the National Species Action Plan, the institution of CMP functions as ordinance of local jurisdictions. This increases the chance of the conservation measures being fulfilled, therefore already now we are submitting our suggestions to RDOŚ offices and participate in meetings of the working groups.

Where to find funds for the realization? In the case of the great snipe it will be mainly the newly prepared agri-environment scheme, in which a special package has been reserved for the great snipe. National monitoring has been financed since several years already. For the remaining tasks, we will have to seek support from other sources, e.g. targeted projects. It is not clear yet how the Action Plan realization will be coordinated. We are of the opinion that a post of a Regional Coordinator will be necessary: a person who, apart from the great snipe, could take responsibility for realization of other Species Action Plans at the regional level.

We are currently working on preparing a preliminary version of the Plan.

The works are coordinated by our project partner – Natura International Polska.