USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

In the Lower Rhine area a new highway is planned for an area that is yearly becoming more important for geese since the 1960s. Feeding places that are used by geese are at least 250 m from low traffic roads such as country lanes and at least 400 m from roads with heavy traffic such as highways. Buffer zones surrounding a central feeding area extend from a road or any other source of disturbance to 350 m into the field; the first 250 m is occasionally used by geese until they are disturbed. In the next zone, at a distance of 250-350 m from the source of disturbance, geese feed only irregularly. In the central feeding area two-thirds of the goose days are accounted for. At a distance of 350-450 m from a road or other source of disturbance, geese are feeding frequently, and at a distance of 450-550 m they are found to feed regularly. The most central part, at least 550 m from every source of disturbance, geese are using very intensely. The construction of the proposed new highway (B 9 neu) through "die Düffel" would reduce the total area of the central feeding places in this region by at least 20%; thus it is not acceptable.