The red-footed falcon and great bustard belong in a group of birds with the highest concern of experts.
It is due to the dramatic decline of population in certain regions in recent decades. Ornithologists from Slovakia and Hungary cooperate for a long time to prevent extinction and to create conditions for population of both species to grow. The LIFE Steppe on border project is focusing on the improvement of habitats where both species occur, especially in the border region. The project will be implemented for over 5 years and is supported by the European Union.
The population of red-footed falcon and great bustard has declined by as much as 30 % in Europe in the past 40 years and got to a brink of extinction in some regions. Habitat loss and low breeding is considered to be the critical threat and limited factor for both species. Therefore, the main goal of the new project LIFE Steppe on border is to reverse the unfavourable status of great bustard and red-footed falcon primarily via transformation of intensively used farm land into grasslands. This will increase availability of prey sources and improve breeding conditions.
The project has connected 6 Beneficiaries and 2 Co-financiers from Hungary and Slovakia. It has started on February 2022 and will be implemented until April 2027 primarily within 1 Special protection area (SPA) in Slovakia and 5 SPAs in Hungary. A public competition was launched for the best project logo design.
More information:
- The project LIFE STEPPE ON BORDER – Long-term conservation of Great Bustard and Red-footed Falcon in border region of Hungary and Slovakia (LIFE20 NAT/SK/001077) has received funding from the European Union under the LIFE Programme. The project implementation is supported by the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary as a co-financier.
- The winning price for the best logo design submitted in the competition is 400.00 €, a contract will be signed with the author.
- The whole project in general is managed by the Raptor Protection of Slovakia as the coordinating partner (beneficiary.) The partners (associated beneficiaries) from Slovakia are City of Bratislava, Slovenská ornitologická spoločnosť/BirdLife Slovensko and the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic. Hungarian partners are represented by the Fertő-Hanság National Park Directorate, MME/BirdLife Hungary and the Municipality of Várbalog.
