Love them or hate them? Brent Geese have become an increasingly important subject in Portsmouth and surrounding coastal areas in the last 20 years.

Many people love watching these plump, garrulous birds grazing or flying in perfect v-shaped formations across our skies, and seek their protection. Others see them as noisy, cereal-eating, mess-making blockers of development. Remember Pompey v Farlington Playing Fields where plans for a new football stadium were scuppered on environmental grounds?

Did you know that some birds live to be 30 years old and that in SE Hampshire we are home to 10-13% of the world's population and 30% of the UK's Brent Geese population?

The Brent Goose Strategy grew out of the need to clarify and resolve differential planning issues locally. It is a thorough scientific survey of Brent Geese, their lives and habitats with the aims :

To identify all current and potential feeding outside the intertidal habitats of the harbours of S.E Hants.

To identify the most important of these sites in terms of numbers of geese and frequency of use.

To determine the factors that influence the use of these sites by Brent Geese.

The Report looks at Site protection, Development Pressure, Disturbance (to geese!), Site management, sealevel and Coastal Retreat. It is clearly the Government's view that documents such as this are an appropriate way forward in seeking to inform local decision making. It is a very useful document. By the way, I love them!

Brent Goose Strategy - South East Hampshire is published by the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Woodside House, Woodside Road, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 9ET; 023 8061 3636.

Gillian Norman