PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The communities of marine birds breeding on the Azores archipelago are very distinct from those found in the rest of continental Europe. Essentially, they consist of a core of eight species, many of which have high enough population levels to be considered important both on a European and international scale. Six are also listed in Annex I of the Birds Directive.
The implementation of the Birds Directive in the Azores led to the creation, in 1990, of 13 special protection areas (SPAs within the Natura 2000 network) for marine birds. However, the level of knowledge about the distribution, population levels and ecology of the birds remains very limited; most are threatened by human activities and by predation from introduced terrestrial predators.
OBJECTIVES
The project’s overall objectives were to conserve the marine birds’ habitat and to maintain the population levels of the most threatened species.
These goals would be achieved by various measures aimed at restoring bird habitat including setting up a network of wardens and collecting, through surveys and ecological studies, the basic technical and scientific information needed to ensure a good management of the marine bird sites and to help identify other important areas that should also be protected in the long term.
The information obtained from the studies would be used to develop a conservation strategy for the Azores marine birds. Project actions would include an information and awareness raising campaign destined at the local community. Altogether, it was hoped that these measures would provide the right conditions to allow the recovery of the marine birds and bring their populations back up to a stable level.
RESULTS
The beneficiary undertook a number of actions to restore the marine bird habitat, especially of the highly threatened Roeseate tern. The restoration actions were conducted in several SPAs and focussed on decreasing human disturbance and improving vegetation cover. The measures included controlling introduced mammals (through the elimination of introduced rabbits, rodents and goats), installation of nest boxes (i.e. 50 nest boxes were installed in the Praia islet for Roseate Terns), controlling erosion (through planting of native plants and construction of wood barriers across the ravines) and restricting infrastructure development (e.g. in the Ponta das Contendas an agreement was reached not to rebuild a bridge that was damaged during a storm).
Two of the SPAs showed an increase in the number of marine birds during the project’s duration: in Ponta das Contendas a mixed colony of common and Roseate tern recovered and by the end of the project attained maximum numbers; and in Vila Islet population numbers of both Roseate and common terns increased at the end of the project. Although the re-colonisation of the Roseate tern was not achieved in the Praia islet, the common tern colony, which had also disappeared from this site, did expand. Furthermore, on the Praia islet the the vegetation recovered significantly as a result of the restoration measures.
An assessment of the historical and present status of the seabird community and a study of the breeding phenology of the local seabird species were undertaken. These studies were used to plan subsequent surveys and census, surveillance and a habitat management strategy. The information obtained on the habitat selection and biological studies was used to prepare a recommendations report for the regional Government authorities for the development of a seabird conservation strategy within the Archipelago. The information of the report was also used for the revision of the (Birdlife International) Important Bird Areas of the Azores inventory and would be used for the revision of the Azores SPA list.
Extensive census campaigns were completed by the beneficiary for Praia islet and Vila islet as well as three other SPAs (i.e. Ilhéu do Topo, S. Jorge and Ilhéu de Baixo, Graciosa) on more species than originally planned. The census indicated that there were several new colonies and breeding sites for several species. Population size estimates were obtained for:
Little shearwater (1 000 pairs that were found in more than 50 new sites and represent around 25% of the total European population)
Manx shearwater (200-400 pairs found in several new sites)
Cory’s shearwater (112 500 pairs representing around 74% of the subspecies borealis and 52% of the world population of the species)
Madeiran storm-petrel (1 300 pairs found in six new sites representing around 35% of the total European population)
Bulwer’s petrel (50 pairs found)
Common tern (3 837 pairs found)
Roseate tern (1 020-1 197 pairs found representing around 60% total European population)
yellow-legged gull (6 463 individuals found).
An important achievement of the project was the involvement of the regional environmental authority and local municipalities. While the beneficiary was successful in implementing various habitat restoration measures and collecting information, the project was less successful in building a permanent network of wardens for the surveillance of the SPAs as had been foreseen. The administrative procedures to hire the wardens turned out to be too difficult.
Various awareness raising activities were also implemented by the project beneficiary, directed especially at young people. For example, the project information campaign included the development of an illustrated booklet (3 000 copies) on the marine birds of Azores designed for students.
Finally, extensive coverage of the project was made through scientific meetings and publications as well as the media; two well received TV spots – one on terns and another on Cory’s shearwater – were broadcast through the regional TV network. In addition although fewer than foreseen, 20 awareness raising sessions took place targeted to the local community that reached especially young people (e.g., secondary school students).