HE Pest control and other threats to crops It can be perfectly made with wild species and without the need for chemical products. Insect-eating birds, bats and small birds of prey are the best guarantee to keep rodents, mosquitoes, insects and moths away. Technicians from the Southeast Natural Sciences Association (ANSE) have installed in recent months Around 300 artificial shelters and nest boxes in the Segura basin in the Murcia regionWithin the framework of the Fluviatilis project.
The initiative aims to implement nature-based solutions. improve pest management in rice fields, orchards and poplarsas well as reducing the presence of insects (mosquitoes and other diptera) that are irritating or dangerous to public health.
It is aimed at the placement of shelters. supporting the existence of different vertebrates it is linked to fluvial environments so that the community obtains ecosystem services (pest control), thus eliminating the need for phytosanitary products.
To this end, according to ANSE’s statement, 270 boxes have been distributed to date for the following species: 27 nesting boxes for the reel, hoopoe or ibis; 6 artificial shelters for Eurasian Tree Reptiles, 56 for big tits, 28 for big tits, 5 for tawny owls, 3 for small owls and 145 different models for bats.
Today, some of these boxes have already been used by target birds for nesting. and as a shelter for numerous bats.
A bat eats up to 3,000 mosquitoes a night
ANSE reminds us that bats are an effective tool to combat moths, mosquitoes and rice worms. A single breastfeeding female can consume 1,000 to 3,000 mosquitoes per night.
on his behalf An owl in the breeding season can eat 1 to 3 rodents per night.so having a pair of barn owls breeding on a farm could mean catching 16-18 rodents per night.
Small insectivorous birds (tit, tit, tree creeper) are major consumers of caterpillars, aphids and worms. A pair of insectivorous birds consumes 50,000 caterpillars. every breeding season, remember the relationship.
Cooperation of farmers and irrigation
Boxes placed On the banks and crops of the Segura and Mundo riversIn the area between the Cenajo and Camarillas reservoirs and the Almadenes Canyon Protected Natural Area (Murcia Region).
initiated by action involvement of farmers and ranchers The Calasparra Council in collaboration with the Sect of Origin ‘Arroz de Calasparra’ Regulatory Council, the Segura Hydrographic Confederation, the Irrigation Society ‘El Esparragal’, the Temple of Hope Foundation and the City. The participation of volunteers and schoolchildren was also decisive in the construction of some shelters.
“As a green purchasing measure, lThe boxes are made by local carpenters. The one who used certified wood from Spanish farms,” says the environmental organization.
The Fluviatilis project started in September 2022 with the aim of increasing the resilience of rivers to climate change through stream management, protection and rehabilitation of coastal ecosystems.
The project has the support of the Biological Diversity Foundation (MITECO) of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
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Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]