DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 project is ready for the 1^st Danube-wide Winter Census of the White-tailed Eagle on 12^th January 2014 as part of its Action Plan for a better conservation of this species. 9 countries, 3,000 river kilometres, more than 300 unsalaried experts and approximately 3,000 hours at field: these are the pillars for the 1^st Danube-wide White-tailed Eagle winter census.

The White-tailed Eagle is a magnificent bird of prey and a flagship species for nature conservation in wetlands and along the Danube. The Danube River Protected Areas play a key role for its protection. In the past years, the SEE programme enabled DANUBEPARKS to foster Danube-wide conservation activities for this species, e.g. the development of an Action Plan which has been adopted by the Council of Europe in 2012.

In this Action Plan, a coordinated Danube-wide winter census is defined as an important step towards a better conservation of the White-tailed Eagle. Now, tow years later, DANUBEPARKS STEP 2.0 will organise the 1^st Danube-wide Winter Census of the White-tailed Eagle in close cooperation with numerous partners (in particular NGOs like BirdlLife, WWF, raptor conservation groups etc.), which will take place on 12^th January 2014.

This Danube-wide monitoring work aims to raise the awareness for this biggest raptor in the Danube-region. Press events, special excursions and other events in many countries will accopany the scientific work of the experts and will give local people the chance to have a look behind the scene. For example a trilateral White-tailed Eagle symposium in the Donau-Auen National Park will bring together the experts from Slovakia, Hungary and Austria, and together with the contribution from all other Danube countries by skype, this evening after a long day of field work will bring for the very first time a Danube-wide picture of the White-tailed Eagle distribution and the importance of transnational cooperation for the conservation of species.

This event is to be seen as a visible sign for the successful conservation work in the past but also as a joint statement for the need of Danube-wide cooperation on the field of nature conservation in the future. This event is also the final event of the CORO-SKAT project ? a cross-border ETC project for the conservation of raptors in the Austrian-Slovakian border region.

The interest of the local people as well as from the press is high and already in the last days some Austrian media reported about this event:

Austrian Press Agency:

https://science.apa.at/site/natur_und_technik/detail.html?key=SCI_20131204_SCI39391351415902644

DerStandard online article:

For up-to-date information on the project and the event, visit: www.danubeparks.org including the White-tailed Eagle quiz which found great interest in the White-tailed Eagle experts´ community.