Hunting and conservation regulations and legislation regarding Bean Geese in Sweden David Schönberg Alm Naturvårdsverket | Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2018-12-05

National legislation Hunting as a problem solver Hunting of TBG - on a sustainable level? Reevaluate the facts Traditionally we have resolved problems management problems with hunting. Up until recently, we have considered the levels of hunting to be maintained on a sustainable basis, and no special actions have been considered to be necessary. However, in light of recent years research and in line with the ISSAP, we will probably have to reconsider this. From hunting bag statistics it is hard to say for sure how many taiga bean geese are actually shot, but as I said, up until now we have considered it to be sustainable. Naturvårdsverket | Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2018-12-05

Possibility to regulate hunting of TBG? Already regulated – to some extent Open season protective hunting ”Increased” damage to crops? Alternatives? Protected areas Protective hunting during spring? As of today there is only open season in two counties, between oct and dec, until 11:00, and protective hunting in a few more counties. So in a way it is already regulated. However, if it will now become clear that the conservation status of the species is deteriorating further, we will have to discuss the possibility of switching from open season to a more selective hunting. It is however possible that the damage to crops will ”increase”. As of today, these damages are not that often reported, but it is something to bear in mind. The most probable cause of action is what i adressed above – switching from open season to protective hunting. There have however been som discussion, very light discussion I should say, about mapping important areas during migration and using that data to designate protected areas where hunting is banned accordingly. Nothing have been done so far though. I will adress the hunting period in Skåne and Blekinge which is active until March 15, although regulated. It could be considered controversial to allow hunting that late, but it is not clear how many individuals are actually shot. There have been discussions aboutmaking a compilation but so far nothing has been done. Naturvårdsverket | Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2018-12-05

Monitoring Annual mid-winter monitoring in the national program Satellite tagging to establish breeding, staging and wintering populations As identified by the drafting group and distributed amongst the range states, the list of main tasks includes som activities that is connected to what I do – monitoring. In the national mid-winter survey, Leif Nilsson is funded byt SEPA to monitor the populations of wintering ducks. Geese are also counted but is not officially included in the national monitoring program. One possibility is to simply include this in the program, as it is actually already being done, although not with funding from SEPA. Satellite tagging is another of the main activities listed, which might also be something that my departement will deal deal with. Firstly i will follow up the recommendations and adress the relevant people at SEPA, whereafter we will have to prioritize what actions we can take in the near future. The goal fo course being the implementation of as many key actions as possible. Naturvårdsverket | Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2018-12-05

Thank you for listening Naturvårdsverket | Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2018-12-05