Bonn, 29 November 2018 – The Bewick’s Swan (Cygnus columbianus bewickii) is classed as “Least Concern” by IUCN (IUCN 2018), but it is in decline in NW Europe and included as ‘Endangered’ in the European Red List of bird species (BirdLife International 2015). An international single species action plan for the NW European population, adopted by AEWA in 2012 (Nagy et al. 2012), was taken forward by Range States from the swans’ breeding grounds in the Russian Arctic through key staging areas in the Baltic region (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) to core wintering sites (in the Netherlands, Britain, Germany, Belgium and Denmark). Main drivers of the decline remain unclear but, in addition to analysing factors influencing population trends, national and international collaborative initiatives aim to reduce known threats to improve the conservation status of the species. Highlights so far can be found here.