Birdlife International: The recovery of the Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus) population in southeast Europe means this species is downlisted from Vulnerable to Near Threatened, thanks to long-term conservation efforts. Numbers have increased four-fold in Europe since the 1990s, thanks to the thorough implementation of a Species Action Plan, and the protection conferred by the European Union’s Birds and Habitats Directives, which helped conserve key breeding sites in Greece, Romania and Bulgaria. In Greece, populations have increased by almost 200% in under 20 years.