Status of the Three Svalbard Goose Populations

During the last decades, the Svalbard breeding populations of the pink-footed goose, the barnacle goose and the light-bellied brent goose have been successful in terms of increased population size and the adoption of new staging and wintering areas. They have also successfully adapted new feeding habits in response to the deterioration of traditional habitats, in addition to taking advantage of new opportunities available in the agricultural landscape. The population increases have been brought about by improved survival, more a result of reduced hunting pressures than of improved breeding success. Conflicts with tanners have been exacerbated in wintering and staging areas, but in most situations, local or regional management plans have been implemented to alleviate the potential damage. The populations provide good examples of how management problems and solutions ought to be addressed at the international flyway level.