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Estonian University of Life Sciences lead support for first ever lone female expedition to save swans
Estonian institutions Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Ornithological Society, The Environmental Board, Tartu Nature School and Estonian Paragliding and Paramotoring Association head a list of hundreds of businesses, charities and individual supporters throughout Europe and Russia who are getting behind a unique expedition to save Europe’s smallest swan – the Bewick’s swan – from disappearing.
Flight of the Swans will be the first ever attempt to follow the migration of the Bewick’s swan from the air. Setting off this September, Sacha Dench of the UK’s Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) will fly a paramotor from the Bewick’s swans’ breeding grounds in arctic Russia 7,500km across 11 countries including Estonia.
The paramotor is simply a wing of fabric, from which Sacha will dangle with a propeller strapped to her back. Flying at the same speed and height as the swans, she will experience the wonders and dangers that the swans face including heavy storms, sea crossings and extreme cold. She will share their view with the world in real time using the latest digital camera technology and satellite communication.
Along the way, Sacha and her support team will meet with the communities that live along the swans’ flight path, including reindeer herders, farmers and hunters, and investigate why the number of Bewick’s swans in Europe has almost halved in the last twenty years with fewer than 18,000 now surviving.
Sacha and her team are expected to arrive in Estonia in 9-13 October when they will stop at Tartu, Matsalu ja Luitemaa.
Anyone can find out more about the expedition and sign up to support the Bewick’s swan at www.flightoftheswans.org
Leho Luigujõe from Estonian University of Life Sciences said: “Flight of the Swans is a really imaginative way to capture people’s attention. Swans and their wetland homes need our help and the help of countries throughout their range. We’ve been working closely with Sacha and her team and we know that lots of others are doing the same elsewhere.”
Sacha Dench said: “I’m humbled by the support that Flight of the Swans has already gained. People all across Europe and Russia are using this expedition as a lever to improve things for the swans, which is all I could have hoped for. “Each winter, I’m fortunate enough that a couple of hundred Bewick’s swans return to my workplace – WWT’s Slimbridge Wetland Centre in Gloucestershire, UK. To get there they need safe passage all the way from the northernmost wilds of Russia, and for the last two decades fewer and fewer have made it. It’s crucial that we act now before it’s too late.”
Flight of the Swans is being supported by conservation and education organisations in each country that the swans pass through: the Nenetskiy National Nature Reserve, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Baltic Fund for Nature in Russia, the Museum of Natural History and the Nature Conservation Agency in Latvia, Birdlife Lithuania, the Nature Research Centre and the Lithuanian Ornithological Society and the Baltic Environmental Forum in Lithuania, the Gdansk Ornithological Station, Biebrza National Park, University of Łódzki, and the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds in Poland, OAG - Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg e.V. and Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) Germany, Vadehavet Wetland Centre in Denmark, Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie (NIOO-KNAW), Lauwersmeer Visitor Centre Staatsbosbeheer and Dutch Forestry and Nature Agency in the Netherlands, and Province of West Flanders i.a.w. Agency for Nature and Forest Management (Het Zwin nature reserve) in Belgium. Estonian partners are Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonian Ornithological Society, The Environmental Board, Tartu Nature School and Estonian Paragliding and Paramotoring Association. They are organising events to coincide with Sacha’s arrival. These meetings and workshops will help progress swan conservation throughout the swans’ range.
In addition several international bodies are supporting Flight of the Swans including: the Ramsar Convention, the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), and Wetlands International.
Flight of the Swans has also drawn support from famous names from the world of exploration, wildlife and film including: Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Sir David Attenborough, Kate Humble, Pen Hadow and Ann Daniels.
Dame Judi Dench, who plays M in the James Bond films, said: “Flight of the Swans is absolutely fascinating, full of adventure and passion. I’m proud to support it. We need to work together if we’re to help these beautiful birds, and I am looking forward to following the expedition.”
Organisations supporting of Flight of the Swans include Mitsubishi Motors UK, Rix and Kay Solicitors, Páramo Directional Clothing, Inmarsat, Team Bootcamp, Lazarus Training and Over Farm Microlights.
Sacha Dench continued: “We are incredibly grateful to the many people and organisations that have already generously supported Flight of the Swans. It’s wonderful to work with businesses and charities and individuals that have a genuine interest in the conservation and environmental issues we’re trying to address. We thank them for their terrific contribution.”