Background The population of the great bustard (Otis tarda) is highly fragmented across Europe, Morocco and Asia. The greatest part of the world's breeding population (50%) is now found in the Iberian Peninsula, followed by Russia, Turkey and the Hungarian basin. Several small, partly isolated populations also live in different central European countries. The species is however extinct in France, Western Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia and the UK. It is globally threatened, classified as vulnerable and is included in Annex I of the EU Birds Directive. In Slovakia, the species is threatened and also classified as critically endangered. To enable the population to recover and to ensure the long term protection of the species it is necessary to implement conservation measures. One of the two project sites, Syslovske polia, is the last regular nesting place of the great bustard in Slovakia, and serves as a winter roosting ground of more than 10% of the central European population. Objectives The project’s overall objective was to improve the conservation of the great bustard (Otis tarda) and its habitats in two Slovakian sites designated as special protection areas (SPAs) under the Birds Directive – the Syslovske polia and Lehnice sites. A series of measures were planned that would reflect the priority actions listed in the European Action Plan and Slovak National Action Plan for Otis tarda protection. A principal requirement was the purchase of 150 ha of key nesting and wintering locations to be converted into grasslands that would be regularly managed for Otis tarda. A further 75 ha of land would be leased. Some 20 ha of feeding strips would be planted with oil rape and cabbage, and snow would be removed from selected areas to ensure accessibility of food in severe winters. Practical measures would be developed in collaboration with hunters to prevent disturbances during the breeding season and to control predators, and some 30 km of power lines would be marked and/or insulated to reduce the risks of collision and electrocution. Following talks with local farmers and the relevant administrations, appropriate management and farming practices would be tested and implemented on a further 820 ha, with a view to establishing an effective agri-environment scheme to ensure the longer-term conservation management in the area. An information and logistics centre was planned for the overall management of the SPAs and for the coordination of the protection measures. An extensive programme of communication with local people and stakeholders was also planned. Results The project achieved some very good results. But it also encountered some difficulties and failures. Main achievements: The most important achievement was the establishment of the agro-environmental scheme (AES) for the protection of endangered bird species, including Otis tarda, as a part of the Rural Development Plan for Slovakia. This marks the first real incentive for the protection of Otis tarda in Slovakia; At the end of 2009, 1 680 ha of land in the Lehnice SPA and 379 ha of land in the Sylovske polia SPA were managed under the AES. These land parcels, together with 47 ha of purchased land represents 50% of the area of both SPAs. The project entered into formal cooperation with three hunting associations and two farms in order to minimize threats to the birds from predators and from agricultural works in the project area. In Lehnice SPA warning devices were installed on 12 km sections of 110 kV and 400 power lines to lower the risks to birds from collision/ electrocution. Also at the same site, insulators were installed on 18 km of 22 kV power lines. Thus the Lehnice SPA became the first in Slovakia to safeguard all its power lines; Management plans were drafted for both SPAs. These have the added value of providing demonstration plans for other Slovakian SPAs; Extensive monitoring activities provided valuable data on the great bustard population and impact of its predators and overall disturbance and enable informed management of the population in Slovakia. Data were processed in the SNC database. Monitoring at national level was complemented with total of 48 monthly joint counts of the great bustard with Austrian and Hungarian experts; Numerous meetings were held with local stakeholders in villages in the vicinity of the project sites in order to discuss the need for and importance of implementing conservation measures for the species; Finally, both targeted species and the LIFE project were widely promoted through media and through distribution of numerous dissemination material including posters, stickers, brochures, the layman’s report etc.These efforts resulted in a major conservation achievement at both project sites: In Lehnice, after several years’ absence a first hen has been regularly observed since 2006, on the acquired land parcels; and the first successful breeding has also been documented at this site. In 2010, another first successful breeding was observed in the Syslovske polia SPA. Setbacks and failures: Despite these achievements, there were also some challenges/ failures: Only around 33 % of the original target of 150 ha of acquired land was achieved. This was due to a variety of problems including complicated land ownership and land-use agreements and, paradoxically, was partly due to increased awareness of land owners by the project of the available agri-environmental schemes (these discouraged leasing/ sales of the land and generated instead expectations of reasonable sustainable income); The project also failed to establish the planned information and logistics centre.To conclude, the project fully delivered its expected results in the Lehnice SPA, but only achieved partial results in Syslovske polia SPA. Despite the difficulties encountered in the latter site, promising co-operation was established with the key stakeholders and land users shortly before the project’s end. This provides optimism for continued conservation of the critically endangered bird species beyond the project’s end.