Western Capercaillie population back to grotwth – concrete actions and collecting capercaillie stories in Kauhajoki

The numbers of western capercaillies have declined in recent decades in Finland. The main reasons behind the decline are enviromental changes. As a pioneering cooperative project in Finland this ongoing campaign focuses mainly on the improvement of the conditions of the tetrao urogallus by concrete actions (f.ex hunting of small predators and researching of the breeding sites). The second goal is to collect folklore material related to western capercaillies. The project was launched in February 2019 and will last till 31.1.2021. The members of the project are Finnish Forest Centre, Finnish Wildlife Agency (local unit in Seinäjoki), Ruralia Insitute at University of Helsinki and Hunting club in Kauhajoki. The project is EU-funded (Suupohja Development association).