 Most European countries have taken steps to conserve the corn crake and produce national management policies ; there is also an overall European action plan . The focus of conservation effort is to monitor populations and ecology and to improve survival , principally through changing the timing and method of hay harvesting . Later cutting gives time for breeding to be completed , and leaving uncut strips at the edges of fields and cutting from the centre outwards reduces the casualties from mowing . <unk> these changes is predicted to stop the population decline if the measures are applied on a sufficiently large scale . <unk> of illegal hunting , and protection in countries where hunting is still allowed , are also conservation aims . <unk> of the corn crake is being attempted in England , and breeding sites are scheduled for protection in many other countries . Where breeding sites <unk> on urban areas , there are cost implications , estimated in one German study at several million euros per corn crake . The corn crake does not appear to be seriously threatened on its wintering grounds and may benefit from <unk> , which creates more open habitats . 
