About GSMP

The GSMP monitors 13 of the 14 major geese and migratory swan populations in the UK, estimating population size and identifying important wintering areas. The project focuses on specific populations of species, rather than species as a whole - for example, it monitors the population of Barnacle Geese that breeds in Svalbard and largely winters in the Solway Firth separately from the population which breeds in Greenland and winters around the west and north coast of Scotland. 

The UK has particular responsibility for seven of the 14 goose and swan populations, as most or all of these populations winter in the UK, or use the UK as a stopover site on migration. The GSMP includes surveys to monitor these populations, collecting data on the abundance, geographic distribution and demography of the birds. The populations surveyed by GSMP are those for which data are most important for conservation and management purposes, and where the majority or a significant proportion of the populations are found outside the sites covered by the BTO/RSPB/JNCC Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS).