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Belgium home to 12 endangered bird species

Of the 211 species of bird found in Belgium, 12 feature on a new European “Red List” of endangered bird species compiled by the conservation partnership BirdLife International. Of the World’s 10,000 bird species, 533 either bread or spend the winter months in Europe. Of these 67 (13%) are endangered.

Marc Herremans of the conservation group BirdLifepartner Natuurpunt told journalist "It is becoming deadly still in the country. This ought to serve as a wake-up call to law makers both at Flemish and European level.

There aren’t even any plans to do anything for species such as the turtle dove and the Northern Lapwing, even though they are running out of time.”

A decade ago there were still plenty of turtle doves and Northern Lapwings.

However, since then there numbers have declined rapidly. The turtle dove has primarily suffered at the hands of French hunters. However, other factors such as the disappearance of hedges

Meanwhile, Northern Lapwing numbers have declined to just half the level they were at a decade ago. This is due to a decline in their natural habitat.
 

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