Russia 2015

17th Symposium, 30 November - 6 December 2015

The 17th conference of the Goose Specialist Group of the IUCN-Species Survival Commission and Wetlands International was held jointly with the Russian Goose, Swan and Duck Study Group of Northern Eurasia from 30 November to 6 December 2015 in Salekhard, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO), Russia.

Programme

The meeting was devoted to research, conservation and sustainable use of waterfowl in northern Eurasia, and was attended by 92 participants from 15 different countries, viz. Belgium (1), Canada (1), China (1), Finland (4), France (1), Germany (2), India (1), Japan (2), Kazakhstan (2), Netherlands (7), Russia (62), Ukraine (1), South Korea (3), United Kingdom (3), USA (1).

Participants of 17th conference of the Goose Specialist Group in government conference hall. (photo: M. Ivanov).

Before the meeting, a seminar on management and control of waterfowl hunting was attended by 45 local YaNAO game managers and hunters. Eighty oral presentations were given on the four conference days (1-4 December), during 13 sessions and three round-table-sessions. An abstract book was presented before the conference and is available online: http://onlinereg.ru/Salekhard2015/Salekhard2015_abstracts.pdf

All papers will be published in the Russian journal Casarca.

Topics included the impact of hunting, surveying techniques using small aircraft, catching and marking techniques, determining migratory pathways using transmitters, breeding biology, interbreeding among waterfowl species (phylogenetic analysis of true geese (Anser)), climate change, impact on waterbirds of economic development in northern Russia (gas & oil) and intraspecific nest parasitism.

Among the new results were the extent of inter-breeding between established species, which provided new insights on the concept of species, and shed new light on the current discussion between Norwegian and Swedish researchers about whether the newly introduced Lesser White-fronted Geese in Swedish Lapland are of a genuine nature.

Organizing Committee opening the 17th conference of the Goose Specialist Group (photo: M. Ivanov)

Even more spectacular was the finding that three of the 23 moulting Bewick’s Swans marked by Sofia Rozenfeld and Didier Vangeluwe in Yamal migrated to Poyang Lake, in the Yangzte River Basin in China (two birds) and one in the Evros Delta in Greece, where increasing numbers of Bewick’s Swans are wintering. There was a particular focus on the Taiga Bean Goose, for which there are still knowledge gaps regarding the status and migration routes for birds breeding in Russia and which continues to decrease in numbers throughout much of its range.

Acknowledgements and recommendations

Participants of the Conference noted with satisfaction that the Conference was held in a friendly and constructive spirit, and featured presentations that touched on many relevant questions of the study, conservation and sustainable use of waterfowl. Results of active discussion of the presentations are of great importance for the further advancement toward the resolutions of these questions in Russia and the development of efficient international cooperation. Participants of the Conference express thanks to the Goose, Swan, and Duck Study Group of Northern Eurasia (GSDSG) and other co-organizers and sponsors of the Conference, as well, they especially noted the support and hospitality of the leadership of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Participants of the Conference considered it necessary to set out the considerations and recommendations mentioned below as the Conference resolution. The many discussions were synthesized into a valuable set of recommendations, and the Conference Resolution is now available online: http://onlinereg.ru/salekhard2015/resolution_eng.pdf.

Change of guards

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Barwolt S. Ebbinge, who led the group for 16 consecutive meetings between 1998 (Bulgaria) and 2014 (China) after being elected as chairman in 1996 in the UK stepped down as Chair of the Goose Specialist Goose and passed this task on to Mr. Petr M. Glazov (Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow) who will now lead the group.

This was the fourth meeting in Asia (1999 Japan, 2008 India, 2014 China, 2016 Russia (Western Siberia) and it was noted how rewarding it is to see how the gaps in our knowledge are now increasing being filled as Korean, Japanese and Chinese colleagues have joined and contribute to the workings of our group.

Excursions

During the conference, participants made an excursion to Obdorsky ostrog, one of the earliest settlements to be founded in Siberia. Salekhard was founded as a Cossack fortress in 1595, and was originally called Obdorsk. The display about Obdorsky ostrog provides visitors with a lot of information about the history of Salekhard.

Modern Salekhard is one of the most interesting and dynamic developing cities of the Russian North. Fish canning and saw-milling reflect the regional economy, as does its function as a base for the northern gas fields of western Siberia. Salekhard is situated on the Ob River at the Arctic Circle on the main flyway of migratory waterfowl from the breeding areas in Western Siberia to their wintering grounds in the south along the Black Sea and Europe.

“Yamal Olympic Games” in the tundra (photo: V. Yakovlev)

A post-conference excursion was organized to the winter tundra where participants were able to take part in the “Yamal Olympic Games”, the traditional Nenets winter games: Reindeer riding, Archery, Throwing tynzyan (belt lasso), Running hunting skis, Raw-hide tent installation, Jumping over the sledge and taking hot tea in a traditional Nenets house – Chum.

The 17th meeting of the GSG was supported financially by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), by the gas company “Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy”, by the YaNAO government and by UNDP/GEF Minprirody of Russia.

The next meeting of the Goose Specialist Group

The 18th meeting of the GSG will be will be held in Klaipeda, Lithuania from 27-30 March 2018 and will be hosted by the Klaipeda University and Lithuanian Ornithological Society, and will include a field visit to the Nemunas River floodplain. Nowadays the Nemunas River delta is the most important staging area for geese on migration from Western Europe towards the Russian Arctic. Annually the site is visited by 1-1.5 million geese (Greater White-fronted, Bean, Greylag and Barnacle Geese). During peak migration, 50,000-75,000 geese concentrate in the area, predominantly Greater White-fronted Geese.

White-fronted geese in the Nemunas River delta (photo: P. Glazov)

The Organizing Committee of the 18th conference has created a special website with information on the conference http://apc.ku.lt/geese/

More information about this meeting will be made available at http://www.geese.org/gsg/.

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