Stelselmatige vernietiging van bezette roofvogelnesten door Staatsbosbeheer

Since the privatisation of foresting operations in the State Forestry Service has been effectuated, large-scale felling during the summer has become common practice. This led to a steep increase in losses among active raptor nests (as well as other birds, cf. Bijlsma 1998). Based on information from the public and 3568 nest cards of raptors, it is calculated that a minimum of 181 raptor nests were destroyed by felling in The Netherlands during 1998. This figure is a minimum given the species-specific problems of finding all nests in a given area. These failures should be added to the >6OO nests which are annually destroyed by egg collectors, poachers and persecution.