 Hear the corncrake!
When celebrating the World Environment Day the particular attention will be drawn on the corncrake - endangered bird species in the world. The bird, which reaches its highest nesting density in the floodplain meadows, during this week will be inventoried not only by the project staff, but also by the Minister of Environment, local farmers and nature observers throughout the Latvia.
Hear the corncrake! When celebrating the World Environment Day the particular attention will be drawn on the corncrake - endangered bird species in the world. The bird, which reaches its highest nesting density in the floodplain meadows, during this week will be inventoried not only by the project staff, but also by the Minister of Environment, local farmers and nature observers throughout the Latvia. In the framework of state-wide campaign "Hear the corncrake" owners of the floodplain meadows, the Minister of Environment Raimonds Vçjonis, head of the United Nations Development Programm (UNDP) office in Latvia Inita Pauloviča, Valmieras district council chairman Vitauts Staňa and ornithologists will observe corncrakes in the Lake Burtnieks floodplain meadows of the North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve. The aim of the campaign is to invite people to hear and count birds, demonstrating that nature observation process is exciting, simple and accessible to everyone. The observation of floodplain birds would also motivate people to understand the value of “swampy, wet and muddy” nature territories in the protecting diversity of nature. During whole week from 30th May till 5th June everybody is invited to listen to nature, to hear the world endangered bird corncrake and report about it. Calls on the toll-free phone number 8001050 will be accepted from 10:00 till 18:00 on 4th and 5th June. Region that would deliver the highest number of messages will receive the honour to be named “The friendliest region for corncrake” and 30 ringers from this region will be invited to participate in the bird observing trip with experienced ornithologist in 11 June. The corncrake is endangered bird species in the world. In Latvia, the chance to find corncrake is still high – approximately 38 000 nesting pairs are registered here. The corncrake is endangered by overgrowing of meadows, melioration and intensification of agriculture. It is seldom possible to see the corncrake, when it is disturbed it is not flying but walking away in the grass. It is often heard – its dissyllabic scream "krrrep-krrrep" is hard not to recognize and it is heard far away, especially in the dawn and night. The corncrake specialist Oskars Keiđs emphasizes: "The corncrake is one of our values. It is depicted on 10 Lats silver coin, other animal species – European mink, which is also depicted on 10 Lats silver coin, is already extinct in Latvia. We should take care, so the song of corncrake doesn’t only remain in the folk songs." Latvian Fund for Nature (LIFE-Nature project "Restoration of Latvian floodplains for EU priority species and habitats", UNDP, Nature Protection Board, Latvian Ornithological Society and administration of the North Vidzeme Biosphere Reserve are organizers of campaign "Hear the corncrake!". The World Environment Day is celebrated since 1972, when it was adopted UN General Assembly to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the nature questions. The aim of the Environment Day is to involve society in finding solution for environment problems and making them aware of importance of nature conservation. Andris Klepers, public awareness coordinator | 
