USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Inside the RAMSAR-reserve "Weserstaustufe Schlüsselberg" game tenants bound themselves voluntarily to alternate hunting weekly in the nature reserves "Staustufe Schlüsselburg" and "Häverner Marsch" September 1-November 15. Counts of mallard ducks were made 35 times in Häverner Marsch. Mallard numbers decreased sharply with the beginning of hunting and built up again only after a week had elapsed since the end of hunting. Hunting was not stopped each "hunting week" as promised. Comparing mallard numbers inside and outside, waters without voluntary restriction had more mallards than where duck hunting was alternated, but the intensity of hunting on other waters is not known. The author believes waterfowl hunting in Häverner Marsch and the whole RAMSAR-area is a severe interference which is out of line with conservation aims of the nature reserve decree and the international commitment taken by the federal government when it ratified the Ramsar Convention.