The spring was active period for the work on Redbreasts in Kazakhstan as part of the WFN funded project of BSPB and ACBK. ACBK experts developed and signed 2 years long plan for coordinated patrols and control work with the Territorial Hunting control Inspectorate. The agreement covers mutual activities on two regions in Kazakhstan – Kostanai region and North Kazakhstan region. A similar plan for control patrols has been signed with the hunting association from North Kazakhstan region.
Raid patrol activities were carried out to prevent cases of shooting of Red-breasted goose during the spring hunting season for waterfowl in places of mass gathering of geese in Kostanay (hunting period April 20 – May 4) and North Kostanay (hunting period April 27 to May 11) regions. For several years the spring hunting of all waterfowl has been closed in Kazakhstan, but 3 years ago spring hunting of ducks has been opened under the pressure from hunters. This opens the door for violations and endangers the Red-breasted Goose during the spring migration to its breeding grounds. Therefore it is of great importance to organise such control patrols and gather information on the implementation of the hunting regulations.
During the patrolling field visits, a total of 10 acts for violations have been drawn up with the environmental authorities, namely with hunting associations, territorial hunting inspection and inspectors of protected areas. However no major violations of the conservation legislation were registered. During the inspections hunted birds were inspected, and active discussion and interviews were held with the hunters about the importance of key rwetlands, where geese stop, including rare ones such as red-breasted goose and lesser white-fronted goose. A warning was issued for one violation. In total, during the spring hunting season in the two regions, we visited 34 lakes in 12 administrative districts. At the same time, monitoring work was carried out to count the number of geese and geese; in total, more than 552 thousand individuals were counted, among which the red-breasted goose amounted to 16,990 individuals, the lesser white-fronted goose – 5,280, the bean goose – 15,307, the white-fronted goose, the most abundant – 513,817 individuals, and the gray goose – more than 800 individuals. 
