We’re saving Europe’s cutest bird

Introduction

They're cute, they’re small, they’re fluffy... and in some parts of Europe they’re critically endangered. The aptly named Little owl are native to parts of Europe, Asia, and north Africa, and their presence tends to indicate an ecosystem is healthy and thriving. Unfortunately, in some areas these cute little birds are going extinct thanks to urban expansion and agricultural development destroying their natural nesting areas. We wanted to help bring them back to an area of Germany where they were almost completely extinct.

The Mission

For our fourth mission we traveled to the Nuthe Nieplitz region in Germany to give the Little owl a fighting chance to return. The region was shaped by state-operated mega-farms during the GDR that destroyed the landscape's rich biodiversity. Since German reunification, organization’s like LFV-NNN have stepped in to bring it back.

Thanks to the support of Planet Wild members, we were able to fund the purchase and installation of 25 new nesting boxes for the owls. The boxes encourage a “family rewilding” concept — to create a safe place for more breeding pairs to nest, growing a self-sustaining population.

Mission Video

Debrief

Our Partner

Peter Koch and Günter Kehl

LFV-NNN

Peter and Günter’s team founded the Landschafts-Förderverein Nuthe-Nieplitz-Niederung (LVF-NNN) in 1991 to try and reverse the damage caused by the GDR. Ever since, they have been fighting to protect the little owl’s habitat in the Nuthe Nieplitz region from urban developments like golf courses and amusement parks. Alongside the Little owl family rewilding initiative, the organization protects this area through the purchase, maintenance and leasing of land, promotion of nature-friendly agriculture and nature conservation projects.

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