RapportThe status of the Grey Partridge in the Netherlands

BirdLife Netherlands considers to file a complaint with the European Commission against the Netherlands, for failing to maintain or achieve an adequate population level of the Grey Partridge, thereby failing to comply with Community Law. The present report aims to provide background information on the population and conservation status of the Grey Partridge in the Netherlands. This information will be used by BirdLife Netherlands to support their complaint.

The current population size of the Grey Partridge is estimated at c. 4000 breeding pairs, while the breeding population in 1980 is estimated at around 40,000 and in 1950 at around 150,000 pairs. The short-term trend (2007-2018) is a yearly decline by 11%. In the Netherlands the conservation status of the species is unfavourable and it is classified as “vulnerable” on the national Red List of breeding birds. The hunt on the Grey Partridge has been closed since 1998 and the species was removed from the list of huntable species in 2017. The main driving factor of the large-scale population declines since the 1950s is habitat loss and deterioration due to agricultural intensification.

Favourable Reference Values can be estimated at: 150,000 breeding pairs for the Favourable Reference Population, 35,078 km2 for the Favourable Reference Range (all of the Netherlands, with the exception of a few islands) and 7,500-15,000 km2 for the Favourable Reference Area of suitable habitat. None of these values are currently reached.

To achieve the level of the Favourable Reference Population of 150,000 pairs, an area of 2,250 km2 of high-quality measures is required, corresponding to 12.4% of all farmland, 25% of arable land, or 15-30% of the Favourable Reference Area of habitat. Currently, 127 km2 of high quality measures for Grey Partridges are implemented (i.e. less than 6% of the surface required to restore the FRA of habitat). Therefore, an additional 2,077 km2 of high-quality measures are needed. In addition, the quality of these measures should be further increased to qualify as high quality measures for Grey Partridges, as currently in most AES-measures there are no restrictions on pesticide use, and no minimum width or minimum distance between nesting and chick rearing habitat is required.