Webinar "At the interphase between geese and agriculture: Setting the Scene"

On 27 May 2021, the Agriculture Task Force arranged an online seminar focusing on the goose-agriculture challenges. In this webinar, under the title Setting the Scene, nine different Range States gave a presentation of the main challenges geese cause for agriculture in their country, focusing on the species causing the damage, types of crops damaged, the main challenges and the most challenging times of the year, in terms of agricultural damage. The webinar is a direct response to the EGMP fundamental objective "Minimise agriculture damage and conflicts", and an initiative to facilitate communication, share expertise, knowledge and experiences.

"The format of the presentations, and the following discussion, actually went very well", says Ingunn Tombre, the coordinator of the Agriculture Task Force. "Almost 50 participants attended, a figure we know we would never have reached for such a meeting if it was arranged face-to-face. Now we are looking forward to the next webinar being arranged in the coming autumn where we will focus on how to manage these challenges. Here we expect even more participants. The organising committee, also with the members Johan Månsson and Lovisa Nilsson from the Wildlife Damage Centre at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Heinz Düttmann from the Ministry of Environment representing the Department of Energy and Climate Protection of Lower Saxony, and Frank Ahlhorn from the Wadden Sea Forum, will continue with a more detailed planning of that webinar over the summer."

Photo: A farmer in Vesterålen, Northern Norway, being challenged by spring-grazing pink-footed geese ( Ingunn Tombre ©).