The project is funded by:

LIFE+ Nature financial instrument of the European Union

A special programme of the state budget of the Republic of Lithuania for the co-funding of EU financial instrument Life+

Private Limited Company UAB "LITAGROS PREKYBA"

Implementation period:

1st of November 2010 – 30rd of April 2015 (54 months)

 

Project objectives:

- To ensure protection of 200 pairs of the Lesser Spotted Eagle from negative effects caused by commercial activities in the forests.

 

Project activities:

- To inventory of the Lesser Spotted Eagle nests in the area of 4564 km², which includes:

    -- 6 Natura 2000 sites designated for the species conservation in Lithuania;

    -- 7 additional territories, which are important for the species conservation in the country.

- To deliver information on the nests to forest managers, owners and the institutions controlling commercial activities.

- To improve support of the natural nests or install the artificial nests in order to ensure long-term conservation of 80 poor status nesting sites.

- To elaborate the new planning schemes for 6 Natura 2000 sites designated for the Lesser Spotted Eagle conservation.

- To develop the Lesser Spotted Eagle Action Plan.

- To organise seminars on protection of the Lesser Spotted Eagle nesting sites for the Regional Environmental Protection Departments and Environmental Protection Agencies

- To organise trainings on the species and its protection for the relevant staff of 20 State Forest Enterprises and directorates of protected territories. 

- To carry out public awareness activities (development of the project web site, preparation of press releases, articles, leaflets, brochure on the Lesser Spotted Eagle and its conservation, development of 20 information stands in the Natura 2000 sites, preparation and use of the mobile photo exhibition).

 

The Lesser Spotted Eagle and its conservation in Lithuania and in the EU

 

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Animals (Animalia)

Phylum: Chordates (Chordata)

Class: Birds (Aves)

Order: Diurnal birds of prey (Accipitriformes)

Genus: True eagles (Aquila)

Species: Lesser Spotted Eagle (Aquila pomarina, Brehm 1831)

Name of the species in other languages: germ. Schreiadler

 

The Lesser Spotted Eagle is a medium-sized diurnal bird of prey, 55-67 cm in length. A wing span of this eagle is 145–168 cm and the weight is 1.1–2.2 kg. It reaches reproductive maturity at the fourth year. The longest recorded age in the wild is 26 years. Monogamous.

They nest in mature forest stands. Open areas, for instance meadows and pastures at the edges of forests  are important as feeding grounds. Small rodents are the main prey. Lesser Spotted Eagles also feed on frogs, birds, moles and other small mammals.

Successfully breeding pairs usually produce one juvenile. Two fledglings in the nest is an exception.   Low number of fledglings and their high mortality during the first year are the biological characteristics of the species which determine that number of breeding pairs can decline quickly. 

The Lesser Spotted Eagles more than a half of the year spend outside their breeding territories. Their wintering grounds span up to southern Africa. The eagles are distributed over the entire Lithuania however density of breeding pairs varies significantly in different parts of the country. It is depends on the landscape structure and land use traits. The recent research has concluded that currently there are 1900 - 2870 breeding pairs in Lithuania or ≥ 10 % of the total breeding population of the Lesser Spotted Eagle in Europe. 

It is the most common eagle species in Lithuania however the research has found that the number of the Lesser Spotted Eagles declined by more than 20 % over 1980-2006. Intensive forestry is one of the most important reasons of decline.

The Lesser Spotted Eagle is included in the Red Data Bood of Lithuania and in the Annex I of the EU Birds Directive. The Directive commits all Member States to maintain favorable conservation status   of the threatened bird species and to establish Special Protection Areas for their conservation, which form the network of protected sites within the EU called Natura 2000. In total 6 Natura 2000 sites have been designated for conservation of the Lesser Spotted Eagle in Lithuania in order to comply to the requirements of the Directive.

Forest Felling Rules prohibit clear fellings 100 m around the nests of the Lesser Spotted Eagle in Lithuania. The selective fellings and timber forwarding in this area are prohibited during the breading season from the 1st of April to the 1st of September.