Some months ago, several members of the birdringing station Schlammwiss got a glimpse into a very interesting and remarkable voluntary-led conservation project just around the border in the middle of French Lorraine’s crop fields.

Here, the conservation association CSFL (Centre de Sauvegarde de la Faune Lorraine) is leading a monitoring and nest protection scheme for Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus) breeding in arable land. As many ground-breeding bird species, especially Montagu’s harriers breeding in arable land within high crops, risk having their nests and offsprings being mown or harvested.

In short terms protecting this species means monitoring the breeding population, pinpointing nests, communicating with farmers and installing protective measures such as nest cages. Even working with extremely rare and endangered species such as Montagu’s harriers, volunteers of the project were keen and fully convinced to inform outsiders about the very delicate situation and organize field excursions to existing nests. Of course without comprimising the breeding population. We participated in nest controls as well as ringing activities of young harriers and benefited greatly from the exchange.

We’d like to take the opportunity to thank the according team of CSFL for the exchange.

And keep up with this very important and immense work!

Autor: Max Steinmetz

Name: Bruno Eusebi

Date of birth: 07/10/1995

After graduating from the university of Luxembourg with a bachelor in biology in my pocket, I followed up with a master in ecology and conservation at the university of Uppsala. There, a particularly great teacher sparked a dormant passion in me: birds. After plenty of early morning birding excursions, I realised what I was even more passionate about: birds of prey; especially eagles.

Before starting my master thesis on Steller’s sea eagles and white-tailed eagles, I had the opportunity to perform a 3 months internship and I applied at “Schlammwiss” bird ringing station as it seemed there was a very professional but also friendly team working there.

I see this internship as an amazing first-hand experience in bird handling and bird identification as well as a good practice in teamwork, which will prove helpful for my future avian-adventures.

Water bodies and landscapes in Luxembourg face mounting pressures. In the framework of the EU water framework directive and Natura 2000 Luxembourg has committed to improving the status of water bodies and biodiversity. The need for action is great; implementation, however, lags behind.

The researchers from the NEXUS FUTURES team investigate ecological challenges in their local contexts, their links with wider societal factors and from the perspectives of diverse stakeholders, in order to develop new governance approaches for sustainability. As a pioneering example of transformative research in Luxemburg, it addresses the following overarching questions: What barriers do actors face in everyday lives and in their cooperation?  Which opportunities for a sustainable engagement with water and land do they see and seize? Which roles do developments in society, policies, agriculture, economy and technology play?

Kristina Hondrila, doctoral researcher in social sciences, works closely with the river partnership Syr (Fondation Hëllef fir d´Natur) and the river contract Upper Sûre (Nature Park Upper Sûre). Water quality, drinking water protection (Upper Sûre) and river restoration (Syr) have emerged as central themes from stakeholder workshops and the numerous interviews she has conducted with local and national actors.

In the Syr valley, she focuses on areas between Munsbach and Betzdorf, particularly Schlammwiss-Brill, where she and the student assistant Max Mattern went on two site visits guided by Stephan Müllenborn & Alexandra Arendt and Jim Schmitz (natur & ëmwelt, Fondation HfN). Pressures here come from agriculture, wastewater, transport (airport, trains, highway), business and residential areas. What will the fact that Schlammwiss-Brill has recently become a national nature reserve as part of Natura 2000 change? What lessons have been learned from the failed year-round pasture project of Mensder Brill? Will more river sections be restored?   

Her case studies will offer insights into barriers, tensions, contradictions and uncertainties that shape practice and policy-making at the nexus of water, nature, land and the economy (to be finalised by beginning 2020). Moreover, she will highlight various factors and approaches that facilitate cooperation and sustainability. She also draws on 15 years of professional experience with EU projects.

Furthermore, the NEXUS FUTURES team collaboratively develops a scenario set for Luxembourg (Dr. Ariane König, project director) and citizen science tools (Karl Pickar). The project is financed by the Environment Ministry and the University of Luxembourg.

Gewässer und Landschaften sind einem zunehmenden Druck ausgeliefert. Im Rahmen der EU-Wasserrahmenrichtlinie und von Natura 2000 hat sich Luxemburg verpflichtet, den Zustand der Gewässer und die Artenvielfalt zu verbessern. Der Handlungsbedarf ist groß, doch es hapert oft an der Umsetzung.

Die Forscher vom NEXUS FUTURES-Team untersuchen ökologische Herausforderungen in ihren lokalen Kontexten, gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhängen und aus Sicht unterschiedlicher Akteure, um neue Governance-Ansätze für Nachhaltigkeit zu entwickeln. Übergreifende Fragen dieses ersten Beispiels transformativer Wissenschaft in Luxemburg sind: Welchen Hürden begegnen Akteure in ihrem Alltag und ihrer Zusammenarbeit? Welche Möglichkeiten nutzen und sehen sie für einen nachhaltigen Umgang mit Wasser und Land? Welche Rolle spielen Entwicklungen in Gesellschaft, Politik, (Land-)Wirtschaft und Technologie?

Kristina Hondrila, Promovendin der Sozialwissenschaften, arbeitet eng mit der Flusspartnerschaft Syr (Fondation Hëllef fir d´Natur) und dem Gewässervertrag Obersauer (Naturpark Obersauer) zusammen. Aus Stakeholder-Workshops und einer Vielzahl von Gesprächen mit lokalen und nationalen Akteuren haben sich Wasserqualität, Trinkwasserschutz (Obersauer) und Renaturierungen (Syr) als zentrale Themen herauskristallisiert.

Im Syrtal liegt der Schwerpunkt auf Gebiete zwischen Munsbach und Betzdorf, insbesondere Schlammwiss-Brill. Geführt von Stephan Müllenborn & Alexandra Arendt und Jim Schmitz (natur & ëmwelt, Fondation HfN) haben die Forscherin und der studentische Assistent Max Mattern sich einen umfangreichen Überblick über das Gebiet verschaffen können. Der Druck kommt hier von Landwirtschaft, Abwasser, Verkehr (Flughafen, Zügen, Autobahn), Gewerbe- und Wohngebieten. Was wird die Tatsache, dass Schlammwiss-Brill vor Kurzem nationales Naturschutzgebiet als Teil von Natura 2000 wurde, ändern? Welche Lehren sind aus dem gescheiterten Ganzjahresbeweidungsprojekt vom Mensder Brill gezogen worden? Werden weitere Flussabschnitte renaturiert?

Die Fallstudien (die bis Anfang 2020 fertig gestellt werden) versprechen Erkenntnisse darüber, welche Hürden, Spannungen, Widersprüche und Ungewissheiten Praxis und Politik an den Schnittstellen zwischen Wasser, Natur, Land und Wirtschaft prägen. Darüber hinaus wird gezeigt, welche Faktoren und Ansätze Zusammenarbeit und Nachhaltigkeit in den Flussgebieten fördern können. Sie greift hierbei auch auf 15 Jahre Berufserfahrung mit EU-Projekten zurück.   

Außerdem werden im NEXUS-Projekt ein Szenarien-Set für Luxemburg (Dr. Ariane König, Projektleiterin) und Citizen Science-Tools (Karl Pickar) partizipativ entwickelt. Das Projekt wird durch das Umweltministerium und die Universität Luxemburg finanziert.

History: The nature reserve "Schlammwiss" was founded in 1982 by the foundation"Hellef fir Natur" (HFN). Afterwards the group "Letzeburger Natur- a Vullenschutzliga" (LNVL) founded the station "Schlammwiss". The station is leaded by the "centrale ornithologique Luxembourg" (COL), a part of the asbl. Natur & Emwelt. Due to the fact that Luxembourg doesn't have its own bird ringing central, we work in cooperation with Royal Belgian Instutitute of Natural Sciences. Therefore, we use rings from the Belgian Museum of Natural Sciences.

Location: The bird ringing station "Schlammwiss" is located in Luxembourg, between the communities Schuttrange & Munsbach. The nature reserve is part of the 375ha big Syrvalley and is an extremely important Natura 2000 zone. The reserve is periodicly flooded due to the Syr river, which is an important generator of biodiversity.

Research area: Around 30ha are used for researche, on a length of 1km and a width of 30-120m. The main area is covered by reeds and wetlands (20ha). Furthermore, the resarch area is subdivided and caracterized by an orchard, a forest, several ponds distributed throughout the reedbed and a purification plant (SIAS). The main techniques employed are mist nets and rail traps in order to realize population estimates (i.e. breeding population, migration, overwintering population) and survival estimates by Capture-Mark-Recapture. There are several projects running in the nature reserve and visitation are possible.

My name is Merit Finia Pokriefke and I am studying Wildlife Ecology and Wildlife Management in my master’s programme at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna.

During the last years, the birdringers of the nature reserve Schlammwiss could observe, that some of the migrating birds are staying longer in the reserve than others and it seems that they are gaining weight. Over one month, in the course of my internship, I will investigate the weight gain of recaptured birds during their stay in the area. Considering that fat is the main energy resource for migrating birds (Odum et al., 1961) a weight gain before migration is essential (Newton, 2008).

The main research questions are:

1. How long does a bird stay in the area of the Schlammwiss?
2. How does the body weight of a bird change over time?

The collected data could show how important wetlands, such as the Schlammwiss, are for birds during their migration (Mitsch & Gosselink, 2000).

History: The nature reserve "Schlammwiss" was founded in 1982 by the foundation"Hellef fir Natur" (HFN). Afterwards the group "Letzeburger Natur- a Vullenschutzliga" (LNVL) founded the station "Schlammwiss". The station is leaded by the "centrale ornithologique Luxembourg" (COL), a part of the asbl. Natur & Emwelt. Due to the fact that Luxembourg doesn't have its own bird ringing central, we work in cooperation with Royal Belgian Instutitute of Natural Sciences. Therefore, we use rings from the Belgian Museum of Natural Sciences.

Location: The bird ringing station "Schlammwiss" is located in Luxembourg, between the communities Schuttrange & Munsbach. The nature reserve is part of the 375ha big Syrvalley and is an extremely important Natura 2000 zone. The reserve is periodicly flooded due to the Syr river, which is an important generator of biodiversity.

Research area: Around 30ha are used for researche, on a length of 1km and a width of 30-120m. The main area is covered by reeds and wetlands (20ha). Furthermore, the resarch area is subdivided and caracterized by an orchard, a forest, several ponds distributed throughout the reedbed and a purification plant (SIAS). The main techniques employed are mist nets and rail traps in order to realize population estimates (i.e. breeding population, migration, overwintering population) and survival estimates by Capture-Mark-Recapture. There are several projects running in the nature reserve and visitation are possible.