The European Goose Management Platform (EGMP) was established in May 2016 under the framework of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA). The EGMP addresses the conservation and management of goose populations in Europe through a coordinated flyway approach, while also ensuring sustainable use and providing for the resolution of human-goose conflicts. The EGMP currently includes four goose species, nine populations, and 16 participating range states.
The EGMP provides a mechanism for a structured, coordinated and inclusive decision-making and implementation process for the sustainable use and management of goose populations in Europe. The objective is to maintain all populations in (or restore them to) favourable conservation status, while taking into account concerns of relevant stakeholders and the pertinent legislative frameworks and regulations.
To further the monitoring and assessment process supporting the EGMP, the AEWA Secretariat and Aarhus University, Denmark (AU) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation under which AU serves as the EGMP Data Centre, established in January 2017. The objective of the AEWA EGMP Data Centre is to collate information on population sizes, demographic parameters, and offtake as well as the current distribution of the goose species and populations covered by the EGMP. The Data Centre provides annual assessments on population status and projections of optimal harvest strategies for the annual decision-making process by the International Working Group of the EGMP.
The Data Centre collects and stores all data, making it publicly available under the conditions stated in the EGMP Database Policy. For populations where Integrated Population Models (IPMs) have been developed, management guidance is based on model estimates of population size and demographic variables. As IPMs take into account all available information when making estimates, count data and model estimates are not always directly comparable. In addition to the data presented here, model estimates are available at gitlab.com/aewa-egmp. For more information, see the most recent EGMP Population Status and Assessment Report (link below).
An International Goose Modelling Consortium has been established under the EGMP to ensure and facilitate further collaboration and improvement of the IPMs and other modelling tasks related to the goose populations currently managed under the EGMP. The Modelling Consortium includes representatives from Aarhus University (DK), Department of Conservation and Sustainable Management of Exploited Species (France), Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology (Sovon), East Iceland Nature Research Centre, Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), NatureScot, Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, The Arctic University of Norway (UiT), and Wageningen University (NL). The work is coordinated by the EGMP Data Centre.
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