Saved from extinction? A brighter future beckons for Switzerland's rare Corncrakes - or does it?

                                                       

Corncrakes need herbaceous vegetation that provides good cover, but allows passage through  the ground, such as this nettle thicket. Photo: Lucas Lombardo, BirdLife Switzerland

 

There is some good news from Switzerland on determined efforts to ensure a future for the country's  small population of  breeding Corncrakes where the species has long suffered from the same challenges as in Britain. Birdlife Suisse (which has 72,000 members) has issued the following press release. 

It is 11 pm somewhere in the mountains of Graubünden. 

Silence.

Then then, suddenly, the characteristic crex-crex call. 

Hearing this in Switzerland has become very rare. However, it was once omnipresent: just a few decades ago, the "song" of the Corncrake was part of the balmy early summer nights on the Swiss Plateau. 

A century ago, people complained that they could not sleep because of the noise of the many Corncrakes. 

Today, in Switzerland his cries hardly resonate at all.

When BirdLife Switzerland launched it in 1996, its starting point was to save the Corncrake from extinction.

The project seems to be paying off. Last year, newly protected sites achieved 17 successful broods.

The field staff of BirdLife Switzerland spend nights searching (and listening) for singing males, certain farms have adjusted their crop-mowing dates and  cantons have provided finance for on-site protection.

"Without this partnership, the protection of Corncrake broods in Switzerland would not be possible," says Lucas Lombardo, project manager at BirdLife Switzerland.

All but gone from the country's plateau meadows, Switzerland's Corncrakes are now all but confined to sites 1000m above sea level

Graubünden has become the main refuge area, with around 50 per cent of all sightings. 

Corncrake nesting requires at least eight weeks of unmowed meadow - a period generally incompatible with current farm practices. Hence the need for protected zones.

Continues Lucas: "We are celebrating 30 years, but we are not celebrating without continuing concern.

"In Switzerland, the promotion of biodiversity occupies far too little place in agricultural policy.

"For the species to survive in the long term in the country, agricultural policy must become very much more orientated in favour of biodiversity. 

"Today, less than 15 per cent of direct payments are made for biodiversity, but  85 per cent is directed to  other areas, sometimes including payments that are harmful to biodiversity.

"If the nature and diversity of species were to be treated as what they are - our lifelines - then we could safeguard our Corncrakes much more effectively. 

"The challenge for the next few years is clear: to move from reactive nest protection actions to a proactive design of the environment.

"New technology - such as thermal imaging drones for detecting  Corncrakes -  are opening up new possibilities for research and protection. 

"But agricultural policy needs to promote and pays for large-scale environmental enhancement."                                  

Corncrakes need species-rich, late-mowed meadows, such as this flower meadow in Zuoz in the Engadine region. Photo: Enea Fadini, BirdLife Switzerland

                                                                   

The image may only be used in the context of this press release and with exact acknowledgement of the source.