PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The project is focused on the recovery of the iconic Cinereous vulture in one of the vulture’s strongholds in Europe – the Rhodope mountains. In the Balkan Peninsula, the Cinereous vulture is restricted to only one small colony located in Greece, consisting of 32 pairs, and recently reintroduced birds in Central Bulgaria, where 3 pairs had fledglings in 2023. The small population in Greece still experiences high unnatural mortality which threatens its long-term survival. The project intends to use a holistic approach in addressing the anthropogenic threats, improving the ecosystem and the trophic chain and benefiting at the same time a top scavenger. The actions will be boosting the anti-poisoning work in Greece, where the poisoning is the main factor preventing Cinereous vulture to increase, unlike Spain, where population increased. This will be done by including anti-poisoning actions in the daily work of the state forest services and creating joint dog patrols with NGOs and hunters. The project will mitigate the human-wildlife conflict that is the root cause for poisoning. Substantial efforts will be dedicated to increase the natural food base, through reintroduction of deer, increasing the number of semi-wild horses and applying for the first time in Bulgaria the EU legislation that allows feeding outside feedings stations to support both vultures and the management of dead animals by farmers. We envisage also other actions to reduce threats, namely lead intoxication and collision with wind farms. The project will be an urgent effort to mitigate the effect of the mega fire that destroyed almost the whole breeding area of the species in Greece in 2023. We aim to establish a new breeding colony in Bulgaria, thus boosting the species recovery and decreasing the risk of regional extinction. The project will have a substantial effect in other policy areas as it tackles wind farm development, management of protected areas and supports farming close to nature.