Global Conservation activity
The Great Bustard Group is primarily concerned with the global conservation of the Great Bustard.
Whilst much of our work takes place in the UK and Russia we work and have regular contact with many other international conservation projects. We exchange information, attend conferences, and have hosted an international conference in the UK published as a Bustard Studies Journal.
GBG staff and members participate in international survey work and have hosted individuals and delegations from many other range states. Regular contact is maintained with Great Bustard projects in Germany, Russia, Spain and Hungary. We also correspond with projects in China, Ukraine and Turkey.
GBG staff and members often participate in census work in Russia, and in 2010 took part in a winter census in the Ukraine.
As the only organisation in the world presently conducting a Great Bustard reintroduction programme our experiences are of much interest to others working in similar fields. Our experiences of rearing, transporting and monitoring Great Bustards are unique. The GBG has presented its work widely in the UK and also in Portugal, France, Hungary, Germany, Belgium, Russia and the USA. We have similarly hosted many visitors from overseas. We are open to sharing our knowledge and the GBG is receptive to requests for assistance in any form for projects benefiting the Great Bustard across its entire range.
The GBG is working together with the A.N. Severtsov Institute to conserve the Great Bustard population in Saratov, Russia. In 2006 the GBG officially began a nest protection scheme to conserve Great Bustard nests in fields through the creation of ‘buffer zones’ – areas left uncultivated by tractors by driving around nesting females.
Conservation Status
The Great Bustard is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Globally Threatened Species. Of the 25 species of Bustards, 11 are listed on the IUCN Red List, their distributions across Africa, Eurasia and Australia highlighting similar threats around the world.
| Common Name | Species Name | IUCN Conservation Status |
Distribution |
| Arabian Bustard | Ardeotis arabs | Africa | |
| Australian Bustard | Ardeotis australis | Near Threatened | Australia |
| Kori Bustard | Ardeotis kori | Africa | |
| Great Indian Bustard | Ardeotis nigriceps | Endangered | India |
| Macqueen’s Bustard | Chlamydotis macqueenii | Eurasia | |
| Houbara Bustard | Chlamydotis undulata | Vulnerable | Africa |
| Black Bustard | Eupodotis afra | Africa | |
| White-quilled Bustard | Eupodotis afraoides | Africa | |
| Barrow’s Bustard | Eupodites barrowii | Africa | |
| Blue Bustard | Eupodites caerulescens | Near Threatened | Africa |
| Buff-crested Bustard | Eupodites gindiana | Africa | |
| Hartlaub’s Bustard | Eupodites hartlaubii | Africa | |
| Little Brown Bustard | Eupodites humilis | Near Threatened | Africa |
| Black-bellied Bustard | Eupodites melanogastor | Africa | |
| Rueppell’s Bustard | Eupodites rueppelli | Africa | |
| Red-crested Bustard | Eupodites ruficrista | Africa | |
| Savile’s Bustard | Eupodites savilei | Africa | |
| White-bellied Bustard | Eupodites senegalensis | Africa | |
| Karoo Bustard | Eupodites vigorsii | Africa | |
| Bengal Florican | Houbaropsis bengalensis | Critically Endangered | India & Thailand |
| Denham’s Bustard | Neotis denhami | Near Threatened | Africa |
| Heuglin’s Bustard | Neotis heuglinii | Africa | |
| Ludwig’s Bustard | Neotis ludwigii | Africa | |
| Nubian Bustard | Neotis nuba | Near Threatened | Africa |
| Great Bustard | Otis tarda | Vulnerable | Eurasia |
| Lesser Florican | Sypheotides indica | Endangered | India |
| Little Bustard | Tetrax tetrax | Near Threatened | Eurasia |
IUCN Red List justification for Great Bustard:
Land privatisation and subsequent land-use change in Eastern Europe, Russia and central Asia could have a significant impact on this species’ population and the extent of its remaining habitat, such that the species is likely to undergo a rapid population reduction, equivalent to more than 30 %, in the next 10 years. It therefore qualifies as Vulnerable.
The Great Bustard is legally protected in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Romania (females only), Russian Federation, Slovakia, Spain and Ukraine. A European conservation Action Plan was published in 1996 and an Action Plan for East Asian populations in 1998.
Threats
Formerly widespread throughout Europe, many populations of Great Bustards have become fragmented and disappeared since they hit their all-time low in the 19th and 20th centuries. Although Great Bustards were certainly caught for food in historical times, their demise in most countries was due to relentless persecution in the form of hunting.
Now, the key threats to the remaining world-wide population of Great Bustards are increased human disturbance and agricultural intensification in much of Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and China. Globally, there is a gradual but noticeable contraction in the Great Bustard’s range so that in many regions the populations are becoming denser in an ever smaller area. This contraction in range is due to conversion of natural steppe habitat into arable farmland; intensive grazing of grasslands; afforestation; and increasing development of irrigation schemes, roads, fencing, ditches and power-lines. Mechanisation, chemical fertilisers and pesticides, fire and predation all contribute to high mortality in eggs, chicks and juveniles. Despite being protected, hunting is still a major threat in Ukraine and China.
Conservation
There are many factors which influence the conservation of Great Bustards. Current conservation measures and targets include research into limiting factors; protection and managment of breeding areas; ensuring the availability of winter habitat; upgrading existing and establishing new protected areas in east Asia; implementing agri-environment measures for low-intensity farming; preventing steppe fires, controlling illegal hunting and collision with power-lines; and raising public awareness of their plight.
Several conservation projects have been set up throughout Europe working to secure and manage protected areas and revert areas to natural grasslands. There are projects in Germany and Hungary releasing captive-reared birds to reinforce existing, small and previously declining populations. The UK reintroduction project is unique because it is the first and only project to expand the current global range of the species by reintroducing them to an area from which they have become extinct.
The Great Bustard Conservation Team
BirdLife International promotes the establishment of Species Conservation Teams for globally threatened birds in Europe. These teams comprise an informal group of experts from all the range countries of a particular species. The main aim of the Species Conservation Teams is to facilitate international collaboration and exchange of information related to the implementation of the BirdLife International Species Action Plans.
The Great Bustard Conservation Team (GBCT) was formed at the International Workshop “Bustard Conservation in Europe in the last 15 years – current trends, best practice and future priorities”, in Lisbon (Portugal) in November 2005. At present Paul Goriup (UK) is running the GBCT with the assistance of the two Central European Great Bustard co-ordinators Szabolcs Nagy (Netherlands) and Rainer Raab (Austria).
website (english): www.grosstrappe.at