Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds

Ukraine

Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds (USPB)

Ukrainian Society for the Protection of Birds (USPB) is the BirdLife Partner. (It was formerly known as UTOP, the Ukrainian Union for Bird Conservation.)

Mission of the organisation

To conserve the biodiversity of Ukraine by saving birds, sites and biotopes.

Key Activities

• Study and preservation of birds, their natural habitats, rehabilitation of deteriorated habitats
• Developing the network of coordinators and caretakers to monitor Important Bird Areas and conduct other activities
• Advocating and assisting in the establishment and supervision of reserves within areas important for one or several threatened bird species
• Cooperating with governmental agencies to improve environmental legislation and its implementation
• Organising conferences, meetings, discussions, lectures, contests, exhibitions, courses, field trips and other events to promote ornithological and environmental ideas
• Organising and promoting ecotourism activities
• Publications about birds, nature, sustainable use of natural resources
• Establishing regional branches, maintaining membership base
• Soliciting volunteers for practical work
• Working closely with teachers in an effort to engage students
• Emphasising the importance of membership
• Carrying out assessment of the impact of wind farm developments on ornithological interests

Recent Achievements

• Since 1996 USPB has implemented the Important Bird Area program in 26 regions of Ukraine
• 466 territories were examined, 176 of which met international IBA criteria and have been included in BirdLife's IBA World Bird Database
• Published a book - Important Bird Areas of Ukraine
• Established a network of ІВА coordinators and ІВА caretakers who successfully perform monitoring and site conservation actions
• Issued an annual national report on the state of ІBAs
• Recommended that 103 IBAs be granted official environmental status as Protected Areas
• Existing threats have been minimised at 12 IBAs and ecological conditions have been improved at 7 ІВАs after performing environmental conservation actions
• Conditions within one site after conducting site conservation action were improved to such an extent that now it meets ІВА criteria
• Recommended all IBAs to be included in the National Ecological Network
• Initiated large-scale educational, environmental conservation campaigns at 126 IBAs targeting diverse public groups
• Issued national action plans regarding the protection of 17 Globally Threatened Bird species, the first publication of its kind in Ukraine
• Coordinated research on populations and developed recommendations regarding protection of Slender-Billed Curlew, Imperial Eagle, Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Red-Breasted Goose, Corncrake and Aquatic Warbler
• Three bird species - Little Bustard, Great Bustard and Corncrake - have been excluded from the list of game species in Ukraine
• Published a field guide, Birds of the Fauna of Ukraine
• USPB is the only non-governmental public organisation in Ukraine that has a national membership network
• Almost 26,000 people annually participate in the educational campaigns of USPB