Meadow bird management areas, Condition 7/2/2018

Overview of the areas, located in Flanders, within which a management agreement for meadow birds (ture, water nip, summer tooth, grutto, curlew, slob, kievit, scholekster, graspieper, pitcher, yellow mercury tail) can be concluded, as provided for by Ministerial Decree. They are less and less able to breed their clutches successfully and to produce enough fledgling young. This is due to increasingly earlier mowing dates, a higher stocking density and a lack of food for the chicks.In the management areas for meadow bird species, measures for meadow birds have the greatest added value as there are still sufficient numbers of meadow bird populations. By providing sufficient rest during the breeding season, the survival of the meadow birds increases.In the management areas for meadow bird species, a management agreement can be concluded whereby the mowing date is postponed until 22 June on the entire plot (deferred mowing date) or on a strip (construction and maintenance of flight strip). On the other hand, under various management agreements, the stocking density can be greatly reduced during the breeding season (growing 20 May, stand meadow 15 June, chick pasture). As a result of these measures, the breeding success of the meadow birds is increasing and they have enough time to raise their young. Farmers receive an annual fee for five years for compensation.Management areas for meadow birds are part of the management areas for species protection. The management areas for the management objective of species protection are defined on a proposal from the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (INBO) on the basis of the most recent monitoring data available.