In October 2018 Biom, the Public Institution “Nature Dubrovnik-Neretva” and EuroNatur conducted illegal killing of bird (IKB) monitoring in Neretva Delta. According to our estimation at least 300 Coots (Fulica atra) were illegally killed in just a week. Because of the prolonged warm weather this year in Croatia, Coot migration is also postponed – so the situation will worsen in the future. Concerning illegal hunting methods we recorded: hunting at night with tape lures and lights, hunting on sea – thus outside of the hunting grounds, and hunting with semi-automatic weapons. We also visited the ornithological reserve Pod gredom, where a weapon was seized in cooperation with local police.
In cooperation with the Nature Protection Inspection (Ministry of Environmental and Energy) we held a lecture for police officers of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County on tackling illegal killing of birds. Maja Polić, the senior nature protection inspector and the Croatian focal point for Illegal Killing, Taking and Trade of Migratory Birds in the Mediterranean, presented the legal framework of IKB and emphasised the key role of the police in combating this threat to birds. Our Ivan Budinski shared with the police Biom’s experience in fighting IKB and presented which are the forms of IKB that police can identify and sanction on the ground.
The activities were conducted within the Adriatic Flyway 4 project, funded by EuroNatur Foundation and MAVA.
