The Cranes
Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
Introduction to Global and Regional Recommendations
In this section, the conservation needs of the world’s cranes are identified on a global and regional basis. "Recommended Actions at the Global Level" outlines recommended crane conservation actions that pertain to the family as a whole. "Recommended Actions at the Regional Level" outlines recommended actions within nine regions around the world. The recommendations are derived from the priority conservation measures described in the species accounts in Section 2.
A regional, rather than national, approach has been adopted in this section for several reasons (see Table 3.1 for the distribution of cranes by region). Cranes are found in more than 100 countries on five continents. Some countries, such as China, Russia, India, and Ethiopia, harbor several species over the course of a year; others support only a single species during migration. Presenting detailed action plans for each country would thus be cumbersome and uneven. Each of the species occurs in more than one country, and populations of the migratory species of Europe and Asia cross many national boundaries during migration. Thus, in most cases conservation actions for cranes have required, and will continue to require, cooperation on a regional basis. Especially in the case of the endangered taxa, regional coordination is essential to successful conservation. Finally, many of recommended actions benefit two or more species simultaneously. Regional-scale approaches thus allow for more efficient planning and implementation of crane conservation measures.
Although the actions recommended in this section are not defined at the national level, they do contain and reflect country-specific priorities (many of which are also included in the species accounts). In addition, many countries, especially in Europe and Africa, have developed national-level action plans. Information from these plans has been taken into account in preparing the regional recommendations. Existing national action plans are available upon request from the various Crane Working Groups and from the International Crane Foundation. (For the benefit of countries that have not yet developed national-level action plans, Appendix 4 provides a basic format).
| Table 3.1 Distribution of cranes by region | |
| Region | Species |
| 1. West Africa | Black Crowned Crane Demoiselle Crane Eurasian Crane |
| 2. East Africa | Black Crowned Crane Grey Crowned Crane Demoiselle Crane Wattled Crane Eurasian Crane |
| 3. Southern Africa | Grey Crowned Crane Blue Crane Wattled Crane |
| 4. Western Palearctic | Demoiselle Crane Siberian Crane (?) Eurasian Crane |
| 5. Central Asia | Demoiselle Crane Siberian Crane Sarus Crane Eurasian Crane Black-necked Crane |
| 6. East Asia | Demoiselle Crane Siberian Crane Sandhill Crane White-naped Crane Eurasian Crane Hooded Crane Red-crowned Crane |
| 7. Southeast Asia | Sarus Crane |
| 8. Australia/New Guinea | Sarus Crane Brolga |
| 9. North America | Sandhill Crane Whooping Crane |
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