ИСТИНА

The breeding grounds of the majority of Anatidae species using the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are located in northeastern and eastern Russia. Some of these species are rare, the populations of the other are declining, and the status of populations of some species seems to be stable and even safe. It is evident that the conservation measures should be applied to the former, but the constant monitoring of the latter is also essential for timely detection of the negative trends. The broad-scale surveys of Anseriformes on the Russian breeding grounds are hampered by the vastness of the territory, many large areas of which, particularly in the north, are difficult to access due to poor development of the transport network. That is why it is reasonable (in addition to available studies on the breeding grounds) to establish a network of the key sites for the monitoring of spring and autumn migrations of waterfowl in Russia (some of them had been already defined on the basis of the long-term observations on the Chukchi and Kamchatka peninsulas, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands). It should be the part of the continuous network of such survey points stretching along the entire migration routes to the wintering grounds in Japan, China and Korea. Involvement of the experienced experts able to assess the sex and age ratio of migrating birds would also add to evaluation of the breeding success. International cooperation in this field is essential, since the measures for the protection of particular species could be defined only if the migratory populations are taken into consideration and the migratory flyways are used as territorial units for the population management and conservation.