Good news comes from one of the bird hunting hot spots on the Balkans. In the beginning of October, bird watchers counted ten times as many birds on the Svitava Lake as one year earlier. Svitava Lake is located in the nature and bird reserve Hutovo Blato, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian part of the Neretva Delta.
„Hunting prohibited“, says the sign in the nature reserve Hutovo Blato. Rangers have ensured its compliance since this summer.
© Pavel Be?kaThere is an obvious reason: Thanks to the support of EuroNatur, this summer rangers have started to go on patrol regularly in order to ensure compliance with the hunting ban in the nature reserve. They work closely with local police, too. And their work shows success. Since the beginning of the controls, not a single case of poaching has been registered. Far more birds use the nature reserve for roosting and breeding.
In the morning of 30 September 2013, members of EuroNatur counted 5,000 birds on the Svitava Lake. Apart from coots and common pochards, they even identified some of the rare ferruginous ducks. The birds acted far less shy than in the years before when bird hunters had things firmly in their hand. “The results show once more that regular controls are an effective measure against bird hunting”, says Gabriel Schwaderer, EuroNatur Executive Director. “I strongly recommend continuing the patrols in the Hutovo Blato nature reserve!”
More about EuroNatur’s work bird to prevent bird-hunting in the Balkans