‘Geese Beyond Borders’ Project

International research and management collaboration
To further develop international collaboration and coordinate management actions between countries, a Norwegian lead research and management project called Adaptive goose management beyond borders (‘Geese Beyond Borders’) has just been started. It will bring together researchers from different disciplines (ecology, social sciences and systems modelling), as well as key stakeholders in both Norway and Denmark.  The project is intended to build knowledge between researchers and stakeholders, helping to develop and improve international collaboration and the management of goose populations at multiple governance levels.

Sustainable hunting and land management
It is a 3 year project, funded by the Norwegian Research Council, and it will focus on issues related to increasing goose populations and how best to manage these populations across borders. Sustainable hunting and land management practices are central themes for research and management activities. In particular, looking at the organization and governance of hunting and other management actions employed to mitigate and reduce goose-agricultural conflicts. Its focus is on identifying models and methods for adaptive, evidence-based management of geese in a multi-stakeholder and multi-level governance system.

Interdisciplinary and stakeholder knowledge building
The approach taken by the research team will be multidisciplinary, integrating knowledge from ecology, cultural and social sciences as well as social-ecological systems modelling (using agent based models). Furthermore, following the principals of adaptive management the involvement of and knowledge building with stakeholders is an important part of the process. Involvement of stakeholders both in Norway and Denmark will take place as research and management actions are developed, as well as by integrating with the Danish Improved Goose hunting project.

Project updates

• ‘Kick-off’ workshop, 10-11 February, Tromsø, Norway: This workshop, hosted by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), was attended by social scientists, ecologists, a system modeller as well as a couple of key Norwegian stakeholders. The Coordination Unit of the SPfG IMSP also attends in their capacity as researchers. At the workshop participants discussed and outlined the research and information requirements (biological, social and governance) for a first phase of research, focusing in key goose staging areas in North Norway and West Denmark. This phase will start the processes of gathering the data needed to describe the hunting, land management and regulatory systems in Norway and Denmark. In addition, key stakeholders in both countries will be engaged in the research, decision making and any emergent management processes needed.
• Landowner survey, December 2014: As part of the Geese Beyond Borders project a survey has been distributed to more than thousand landowners in the County of Nord-Trøndelag, mid-Norway. The aim of the survey is to gather information on landowner attitudes towards goose hunting, as well as to understand and map the various approaches for organizing goose hunting in the region. For more information please see the news article on this website.

Further updates about ‘Geese Beyond Borders’ will be posted on this website as the project progresses.