The EU Turtle Dove Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM), launched in 2021, is now in its sixth year of implementation.

Looking back, the progress made over these years is significant.

First, hunting has been reduced by around 90% across both European flyways, to a level identified as sustainable. This has virtually eliminated harvest as a potential threat.

Second, all Member States now apply strict hunting quotas and have developed tools to report harvest accurately and on time, so they can track progress towards the quota and close the Turtle Dove hunting season once it is reached. This is a significant achievement that paves the way for real-time harvest reporting for other huntable species. Extensive data from field controls also shows very high compliance.

The Turtle Dove population is increasing in the Western flyway. In the Central/Eastern flyway it is still decreasing, although signs of stability are visible.

In the Central/Eastern flyway, the lack of an increase following the drastic reduction in harvest should prompt a search for factors other than hunting that are driving the decline. New research from Bulgaria shows that breeding densities have recently increased and that productivity is good. The situation may differ in other countries, and assessing national trends could shed light on the population dynamics in this flyway.

The Turtle Dove Report 2026 details this year’s update to the Turtle Dove AHM, its achievements so far and ongoing progress.