Emsland without wildfowl

Abstract

This is intended partly as a piece of nostalgic reminiscence, but more especially as a warning of the constant pressure that is being exerted on wildfowl habitat throughout North-West Europe. It is the story of how, during the past five years, a big drainage scheme on the marshes of the lower Ems has robbed many thousands of ducks and geese of one of their main wintering grounds in western Germany, and thereby upset a tradition of many seasons standing. What the final repercussions will be, it is still too early to say, but for a population of this size alternative resorts must become increasingly difficult to find.