Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife) A project to improve agricultural practices in order to guarantee the protection of steppe birds which endangered In the areas of the Natura 2000 Network in Extremadura, Aragon and Alentejo (Portugal).
The budget of the LIFE Agroestepas Ibéricas project is 3 million Euros. Thirteen sites of the Natura 2000 Network, six in Extremadura, four in Aragon and three in Alentejo (Portugal).
Among the species to benefit Little Toy, Big Toy, and Montagu’s HarrierIt was declared the Bird of the Year 2023.
During the next five years, measures to improve agricultural practices in favor of these species will be implemented; They will develop and test barter and barter models that can benefit farmers and ranchers while improving the survival and reproductive success of the most endangered bird species associated with agriculture.
Marcelino Cardalliaguet, SEO/BirdLife representative in Extremadura, stressed that the project is “ambitious” and wants to stop the decline of the most threatened agricultural birds. alliance between administration, farmers and conservation organisations.
In addition, ASAJA, one of the project partners financed by the European Commission, will encourage the establishment of communication networks with farmers and ranchers at ZEPA, where the project will be developed. The aim is to design aid models for bird protection on farms with their direct participation and commitment. All this will be replicated in Aragon and also in Portugal, with the conservation organizations SPEA and LPN counted as beneficiary partners and with the support of the Portuguese government through the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).
sharp declines in populations
According to the NGO, the bustard, the great bustard, and the Montagu’s harrier are three of the most threatened species in agricultural steppe environments as they have been recorded. severe negative trends of their populations over the past 15 years.
population, especially little bull has decreased by 47.6 percent in just eleven years and the situation is particularly serious in Extremadura, where it decreased by 64 percent in the same period 2005-2016, so it is classified as ‘In danger of extinction in that autonomous community’. In Portugal, the registered decrease according to the national censuses for the period 2003-2016 is 49 percent.
During, Bustard also has a negative trend of more than 30 percent (2005-2019 period) in Spain.Even worse in Extremadura, reaching 47 percent of the population over the same period, in Aragon the fragility of its population places it in the Endangered category.
Montagu’s Harrier has also seen strong declines in recent years, with an average population loss of 23 percent in Spain (2006-2017 period), a trend much more negative than the average in Extremadura, where the decline reached 41 percent. population at that time
In Portugal, the last national census of the species estimates that it has lost 80 percent of the population in the last 15 years, so the project is focusing its efforts on this species there.
good farming practices
Special, good agricultural practices will be implemented with cooperating farms and old grain varieties will be recovered however, it can be more adaptable to local conditions of low precipitation and high temperatures, allowing farmers to grow crops with higher added value, more durability and less need to use chemical products.
In addition, with artificial intelligence technology Find slots with thermal photos Made from a drone at a safe altitude.
Ana Carricondo, coordinator of SEO/BirdLife Conservation programs, considers it “essential” to combine efforts and common interests to ensure that agricultural habitats are well protected, while taking into account the needs of productive sectors and the people who manage them.
The project, coordinated by SEO/BirdLife, is co-financed by the European Union through the LIFE Naturaleza program and the Young Farmers Agricultural Association (ASAJA) as beneficiary partners, Junta de Extremadura through the General Directorate of Sustainability and the General Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock, Extremadura Scientific and Technological Research Center (CICYTEX), the University of Porto Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Research Center (CIBIO), the Portuguese Bird Research Association (SPEA) and the Union for Conservation of Nature (LPN).
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Contact details of the environment department: [email protected]