Protection of Meadow Birds in Coastal areas of Western Pomerania (Germany)

The EU LIFE project Limicodra focuses on the protection of waders breeding on coastal meadows in Western Pomerania (North Eastern Germany). It specifically aims on the improvement of breeding success in salt marshes along the lagoon system (so called Bodden- and Haffküste).

The Acronym Limicodra derives from Limicoles or waders – an order of small to medium-large wader birds – and Odra, the name of the estuary of the river Oder (its western part) into the Baltic Sea – our project area.

The 5 project sites are situated at the southern shore of the Bay of Greifswald, the Peene Stream and the western part of Oder Lagoon. They lie almost entirely within the confines of areas of national or international protection status, within the Nature Parcs Usedom Island and Stettiner Haff and SPAs (Special Protected Areas for the protection of birds).

The project has a lifetime of 8 years and will last until september 2025. Its long lifetime allows optimizing the breeding habitats in several steps, which we consider necessary to allow recolonisation of habitats and  an enlargement of populations. Our experience gained by this project will be used to elaborate a strategy of how to continue our efforts after the project. It can be used for other coastal areas with comparable problems.