In Hungary, the last power line pole in the Kiskunság National Park has been torn down. Power lines are often the cause of death of birds, especially large birds such as bustards . From now on, the cable runs underground and poses no threat to nesting birds in the area. The project cost HUF 645 million. The EU financed three-quarters of the project.
Miklós Lorant, Kiskunság National Park: “Birds can live on one or the other side of the power line towers, but not under the wires. By replacing these cables, we not only free up space for the birds, but we also destroy the boundary that separates their habitat.
All in all, 28 kilometers of overhead power lines have been dismantled in the Kiskunshag and Dunay-Ipoy reserves. According to the rangers, the results are already visible. The bustard, the heaviest European bird (its weight reaches 15 kilograms), returns to the meadows. During the last 80 years the bustard population has significantly decreased and this has worried environmentalists. The bustard is protected by the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
