The loss of species is often due to changes in land use. This is especially true of grey partridge (Perdix perdix) whose populations have been negatively affected by increasing intensity of agricultural practices. Together, IAF and the UK’s Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust are collaborating to help pioneer restoration of nature by creating an online network od wildlife users using the grey partridge as a flagship. By taking responsibility for this, falconers yet again pioneer a new approach to conservation.

This project thus protects our natural heritage, combines benefits for the reputation of those who both communicate and act and aids falconers across Europe by restoring game populations. Please help us to make it work. The Perdix Portal will be accessed via www.perdix-staging.net

HOW DOES THE PERDIX PORTAL WORK?

The vision of the Perdix Portal is to encourage and enable the restoration of partridge populations, and the healthy habitats that they and many other species require, by creating a network of practitioners that rapidly convey news and bestpractice examples across all European rural areas. This network will enable the EU to start meeting 2020 targets for biodiversity restoration through local, community-driven efforts.
The Perdix Portal will be accessed via www.perdix-staging.net. This website provides multilingual general information on grey partridge restoration for all users, whether falconers, farmers, anglers, shooters reserve managers or local officials. This staging site then links to monolingual sites that enable the exchange of country-specific information for developing projects and can, in turn, link to a network of similar local project sites run by associations, local administrations, or for more specific exchange of information.

Knowledge of restoration techniques will therefore be shared with interested parties across Europe in as many languages as possible; this will also be achieved with the aid of the European Landowners’ Organisation and of sustainable use groups in IUCN.

WHY IS THE PERDIX PORTAL NECESSARY?

The human population of our world is growing, and increasingly lives in towns and cities. In the developed world, most people are divorced from the sources of food they eat and interact with wildlife mostly via television or the internet.

Despite peoples’ alienation from the natural world, their 21st century demands still put huge pressure on that world, resulting in increasingly intensive use of the land to maximise efficiency. This is seen in the prevalence of crop monocultures in modern agriculture. Such farming methods often lack biodiversity-rich landscape features such as trees.

This intensive use alters natural ecosystems and affects wildlife. Large animal species are often driven off the land and are now commonly only found in protected areas; even smaller species suffer as the insect life ecosystems depend upon are often intentionally removed to protect crops.

However, lost species can be returned to areas where they were once present. Commonly, species disappear from fragments of less productive land due to past management practices and can often be restored. Research shows that this is especially true of the grey partridge (Perdix perdix), a species which was once common in Europe but has seen serious declines in much of its range in Europe. However, the solutions presented by research have not been implemented.
Therefore, IAF has joined with the UK’s, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust to help pioneer restoration of nature by using the Grey Partridge as a flagship.
By working together with other land users and supporters of sustainable use, falconers can drive innovative conservation methods and spearhead a new campaign to assist the recovery of European biodiversity and of this iconic bird species.