The Finnish Hunters’ Association installed camera tracking on the nest tube of a well-known duckling production wetland. This a unique opportunity to visually understand the importance of establishing duck nest tubes in the wild. The nest tubes (built and installed by the hunters’) help waterfowl during the Spring nesting season.
POLICY RELEVANCE
Nature Restoration Plan: In light of the ongoing policy discussions about Europe’s new Nature Restoration Law, here’s another successful wetland restoration project in Finland. Conservation action is essential for biodiversity and the efforts of hunters should be well integrated into future European and national frameworks to support local restoration actions. This project is another excellent example of how hunters are already contributing to the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and nature restoration targets.
AEWA: Wetland loss and fragmentation are among the largest threats to waterbird populations. The mission of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) (reflecting Article II.1 of the Agreement text) and the AEWA Strategic Plan 2019–2027 (objective 4) place a strong focus on ensuring that there is sufficient habitat in the wider environment for migratory waterbird populations.
Since the beginning of April, two live cameras have been broadcasting online footage from the outside of the nest tube and from the inside of the tube. The broadcast is still ongoing and can be followed until end of July.
This video compilation here shows the key tube nesting events. In mid-April, when the wetland was still frozen, the hen visited the tube for the first time. Laying began soon after. Hatching began in early May and 11 chicks hatched on May 26. The dammed wetland shown in the video was established by a private landowner. Plenty of nest boxes and tube nests have been installed on the site. The final number of wildfowl nests will be known later this year, but in the 2022 season there were 7 successful nests in the tubes. The wetland is part of the target network of the SOTKA resting area project and serves as both a high-quality duckling production area and an undisturbed resting area in the autumn.
Project location: Finland
Types of actions carried out: Management of habitats and wildlife
Habitat types concerned: Wetlands
Protection status of the areas concerned: National protected area, Hunting reserve, Ramsar
Species concerned: Huntable species, Birds, Generalist predators, Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
Year the project was started: 2023 ongoing
Main partners involved: Finnish Hunters’ Association (Suomen Metsästäjäliitto) and SOTKA
