英國政府將水獺正式列入重點復育物種，接著在各大都市便相繼目睹水獺出沒，包括倫敦。去年，人們百年來首次在倫敦市中心發現水獺。英國政府誓言在2010年之前達成復育目標，讓水獺重現1960年代之前的榮景，在河岸、湖泊和海岸線等處棲地皆可看到牠們。
英國政府「生物多樣性行動計劃」中，特別針對391個物種和45塊棲地加強護育，預定在2015年前將水生哺乳動物恢復至原先的85%數量。
儘管環境署目前並沒有水獺確切族群數字（因為此種觀察研究7年才進行一次），但部門人員認為，四處出沒的水獺就是最具說服力的成長證據，相較於10年前光景，水獺被觀察到的出沒區域幾乎達兩倍之多。
環境署水獺專家休利（Scholey）表示：「70年代末期，我們最初目標是停止水獺族群持續消失的景況，當時，傳統的英國水獺棲地只剩下６％觀察得到水獺出沒。」隨著水質和棲地環境改善，調查顯示水獺漸漸恢復至傳統棲地的至少75％，活動區域和以往無異。
「然而，有水獺出沒不代表這些河道已恢復為可長可久的安全棲地。在某些案例中，所謂出沒只是目擊一兩隻水獺回到原先棲地──當然，這總是個好兆頭。」休利說。
目前「華盛頓公約」（CITES）將水獺列為禁止交易物種，水獺還同時受到「歐洲荒野保護公約」（簡稱伯恩公約〔Bern Convention〕）和歐盟「棲地指令」保護。
英國政府將水獺正式列入重點復育物種，接著在各大都市便相繼目睹水獺出沒，包括倫敦。去年，人們百年來首次在倫敦市中心發現水獺。英國政府誓言在2010年之前達成復育目標，讓水獺重現1960年代之前的榮景，在河岸、湖泊和海岸線等處棲地皆可看到牠們。
New recovery targets for the UK’s threatened otter populations have been set by the government following confirmation that the species has been sighted in every major British city. Last year, otters were discovered in central London for the first time in over a century. By 2010, the British government has pledged to restore breeding otters to all the areas where they were recorded prior to the 1960s - river banks, lakes and coastal areas.
A new Biodiversity Action Plan target issued by the government aims to return the aquatic mammal to 85 percent of its former river habitat by 2015. Biodiversity Action Plans are targeted actions to protect and enhance 391 species and 45 habitats that are under threat in the UK, including otters.
While otter monitoring studies are conducted every seven years, the Environment Agency gives no current otter population figures. The agency does say that the most promising improvement in otter populations has been in England where otters are now found in almost twice as many areas as they were 10 years ago.
"In the late 1970s our initial goal was to consolidate numbers and stop the otter population from further losses. At this time only six percent of traditional sites in England had evidence of otters," said Scholey. But with water quality and habitat improvements, scientific surveys have shown that otters have returned to at least 75 percent of the territory that once formed their traditional range.
"This doesn’t mean these rivers have established viable long-term populations," he said. "In some cases it may only be one or two otters moving back into an area where their ancestors had previously flourished. But it’s a good sign."
The otter is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which means they cannot be traded. They are protected under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, known as the Bern Convention, and also under the European Union's Habitats Directive.
全文及圖片詳見 ENS報導
