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Protection for rare wild geese
09/10/2008
The designation of the Slamannan Plateau as a Special Protection Area under the EC Birds Directive, which was announced today, will provide additional safeguards for Scotland's only population of Taiga bean geese.
The Slamannan Plateau lies between Falkirk and Cumbernauld, around the headwaters of the River Avon, and consists of areas of peatland, wetland and rough and improved grassland. This important mosaic of habitat provides suitable feeding and roosting areas for the geese during their winter residency in Scotland.
Bean geese were first identified in the area during the 1980s, and their numbers and distribution have been monitored annually since the early 1990s. Over that time, the population has grown to over 200 birds.
The bean geese arrive in the area in late September each year and leave in late February / early March. They spend the remainder of the year close to the Arctic Circle in the boreal bog-forests of Sweden, northern Norway, Finland and western Russia.
The site qualifies by regularly supporting a nationally important number of the birds. Between winters 2000/2001 and 2004/05 the average peak number of geese at the site represented over 53 per cent of the total population in Great Britain, with the only other significant flock breeding in Norfolk.
Proposals for the designation of the site were first announced in March 2005 by Scottish Ministers, after which Scottish Natural Heritage undertook consultation with local owners, occupiers and other interested parties. Scottish Natural Heritage notified the area as a Site of Special Scientific Interest in March 2006.
In recognition of the importance of the bean geese at Slamannan, a Bean Goose Action Group was established in 1994. The group aims to help conserve the population by protecting and managing the habitats used by the geese, and overseeing the annual monitoring. The group includes representatives from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), Central Scotland Forest Trust (CSFT), Forestry Commission (FC), Forest Enterprise (FE), Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and Falkirk and North Lanarkshire Councils.
SPAs are designated under the EC Birds Directive for certain rare or threatened species. There are now 146 SPAs in Scotland covering an area of over 600,000ha for a wide range of bird species.
SPAs are intended to safeguard the habitats of the species for which they are designated and to protect the birds from significant disturbance. SPAs together with Special Areas of Conservation (which are designated under the Habitats Directive for certain habitats and non-bird species), form the Natura 2000 network of sites, which is a pan-EU network of sites for Nature Conservation for the 21st century and beyond.