This critically endangered Nordic goose is making a recovery

In the span of a single century, the number of lesser white-fronted geese in Nordic countries plunged from thousands of breeding pairs to just a few dozen. Now, as Tiitu Saarikoski explains, cooperation between multiple countries along the birds’ migration route is helping the critically endangered population recover.

The lesser white-fronted goose, or Anser erythropus, is one of the most endangered birds in the Nordic countries: it is estimated that there are currently fewer than 100 individuals left.

A small, dark brown bird with a white blaze on its crown and black spots on its belly, this goose is smaller and daintier than its close relative, the greater white-fronted goose. A bright yellow ring around its eyes and a shorter bill also distinguish it from its non-endangered counterpart. These geese nest on the ground on open tundra. They are very timid, especially during the breeding season.

Unsustainable hunting causes decline

Although the most urgent need for protection is for the severely collapsed Fennoscandian population, the lesser white-fronted goose is endangered throughout its range, which stretches from the Nordic countries to eastern Siberia. At the start of the 20th century, the goose was a common sight in Lapland during its breeding season, but today its only known Nordic breeding sites are in Norway. It winters in northern Greece and passes through several European countries, including Finland, on its migration journey.

In the 1910s, it was estimated that about 10,000 lesser white-fronted geese migrated through Finland in spring to reach their Lapland breeding areas. However, hunting and the deterioration of their staging and wintering habitats led to a collapse in the population, and in the worst years—the early 2000s—only a few individuals were seen in the Finnish spring staging area. Excessive hunting, especially in the geese’s wintering areas and resting places along their migration routes, is the main culprit behind their decline.

Unlike most other goose species, the lesser white-fronted goose depends on low-growing, often salty natural meadows. Changes in land use and the overgrowth of these habitats by bushes and reeds (resulting from, among other things, the abandonment of traditional land-use practices) have led to the loss of feeding habitats because the goose, an herbivore, has a very short bill that is specially adapted to forage in low-growth meadows.

A joint effort begins

In Finland, the decline of the lesser white-fronted goose was first noticed in the seventies and eighties. In 1984, a conservation team from WWF–Finland began to systematically monitor the birds’ spring migration and survey their breeding areas in Lapland.

However, because the geese pass through several European and central Asian countries on their migration route, it was clear from the beginning that they could not be saved by the efforts of just one country. Since 1997, joint European Union LIFE projects began investigating the geese’s migration routes and worked to train citizens in the countries along these routes to identify and protect the birds.

These investigations revealed that, interestingly, lesser-white fronted geese don’t all choose the same migration route. The geese that have bred most successfully fly to Greece through Hungary, whereas those whose breeding has failed have tended to fly through Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. This route is much longer and more dangerous because the geese are more likely to be shot by hunters.

In 2020, the third international lesser white-fronted goose EU LIFE project began. Running until 2025, it aims to halt the decline of the Fennoscandian population. It will also try to stabilize or expand the birds’ breeding range and help ensure that adequately managed, protected habitats are available at all key sites.

To that end, the project includes restoring the habitats of the lesser white-fronted goose, assessing the effects of climate change on the birds, and raising awareness among humans of their plight. In addition to Finland, other countries involved in the project include Greece, Hungary, Lithuania and Estonia.

Cooperation pays off

So far, the conservation efforts seem to be working: over the past few years, more than 100 lesser white-fronted geese have rested in Finland during their migration journeys. However, the population has decreased again over the latest year due to several successive bad breeding years.

Since 2020, for the first time in 50 years, part of the population has begun to stop over in Finland during the autumn migration. Cooperation with local hunters has enabled the geese to rest undisturbed during the couple of weeks they spend in Finland. Once they arrive, waterfowl hunters are warned about their presence and can voluntarily reduce their hunting at dusk. In the dark, it’s easy to confuse lesser white-fronted geese with other geese, and the loss of even one would be significant for the extremely endangered species.

The last time a lesser white-fronted goose was confirmed to nest in Finland, it was 1995—almost 30 years ago. But if the population continues to strengthen, these geese may rejoin the Finnish breeding fauna, just as the Arctic fox did in 2022.