EU Project to Help Protect Saker Falcons in Hungary

Two thirds of the EU's globally endangered Saker falcon population nest in Hungary. The work in the six-year project to protect this Hungarian bird of prey is being supported in 75% by the European Union's LIFE program with co-financing from the Hungarian state and project partners.

The Saker is Hungary's cult bird, most probably the Central and East Asian Altai Mountains' version of the Saker, and is highly protected in Hungary, with a conservation value of HUF 1 million. A significant part of the European population of the species nests in the Carpathian Basin, so Hungarian nature conservation has a key role to play in its conservation, the Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (MME) said in a statement on Monday.

They say that outside Hungary, there are still a few nesting pairs in Austria, Slovakia and Romania, as well as in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

They recall that the Saker Falcon was on the brink of extinction in Central Europe by the 1970s, due to the general persecution of birds of prey and the use of highly dangerous chemicals in large quantities in agriculture.

“When the MME was founded in 1974, the national population of Saker falcons was estimated at less than ten nesting pairs. In the three decades that followed, the Hungarian population of this bird strengthened significantly as a result of the conservation work of the MME and the successive national parks that were established in the meantime," MME said in a statement, adding that the outstanding conservation achievements of the Hungarian Saker Falcon have been internationally recognized and the work has been supported by the European Union's LIFE program.

The communication recalls that two LIFE projects on Saker conservation were implemented between 2006 and 2010, and then between 2010 and 2014, under the coordination of the Bükk National Park Directorate, and were awarded the Best LIFE Project Award in Brussels, based on the votes of the member states. It added that the third project, coordinated by the Fertő-Hanság National Park Directorate between 2014 and 2018, has achieved success in the conservation of mammal species that feed on falcons.

“As a result of the successful conservation program, the domestic population of Saker falcons increased steadily until 2010 and then stabilized at around 150-180 nesting pairs nationwide. However, there were significant differences between the individual nesting areas: while the population continued to increase slowly in southern Hungary, experts observed a significant decline in the Northern Great Plain region," the statement said.