PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The imperial eagle, black vulture, black stork and Iberian lynx are four priority species for conservation in Europe. Their populations are concentrated primarily in Spain's Mediterranean forests. Degradation of their natural habitat is the principal threat to all four of these species, since they are highly sensitive to changes in and destruction of their habitats and human presence during the critical breeding season. Similarly, the shortage of food has a highly adverse impact on their survival rates. Conservation of these species depends, to a large extent, on maintaining them on private land subject to different management systems.
This project proposed a series of management measures on private land, with the agreement of the owners, to protect the populations and help these four species to recover in Extremadura and Castile-La Mancha, bringing direct benefits to a large proportion of the population in Europe. One important challenge for nature conservation was to involve private landowners in sustainable use of natural resources without endangering the survival of protected habitats and species.
OBJECTIVES
The general aim of the project was to promote the recovery of the imperial eagle, black vulture, black stork and iberian lynx on private lands of Extremadura and Castilla La Mancha. The project hoped to demonstrate that traditional use of private land is compatible with conservation of the above-mentioned species.
To this end, the project included management plans for the estates, monitoring of the populations of the species, and specific actions to foster breeding and feeding of the species and improve their habitat. A public awareness campaign was also planned, targeted on the stakeholders as well as the general public. The project had financial support from the landowners, national authorities and from other private sources.
RESULTS
The project achieved the main objectives with respect to the conservation of the 3 bird species: the imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti), the black stork (Ciconia nigra) and the black vulture (Aegypius monachus). Populations of the 3 species increased and breeding parameters showed positive trends. Moreover, an increase in nesting and/or habitat use was detected either in the target estates or their surrounds. This was achieved thanks to the combination of the management implemented and the surveillance of the critical areas, which allowed the species to breed with quietness and without any resource limitation.
As regards the lynx, no positive results were obtained. In fact, only indirect hints of some remnant population in the target areas were found. Nevertheless, the habitat management activities implemented are considered to be among the most relevant ones for the conservation of the species targeted and particularly for the lynx. For example, rabbit restocking measures were designed, applied and monitored with scientific criteria. As a result, the project developed a rabbit restocking protocol that seemed to be highly successful. For the first time, reinforcement works showed clear indicators of success in most cases. In the past, all previous trials to restock rabbit populations failed despite the many efforts and money spent. This is of extreme importance since the rabbit is the principal prey both of the imperial eagle and the iberian lynx. Furthermore, the drastic decrease of the rabbit population is considered to be the principal threat for the conservation of these two species.
Other measures, such as the construction of ponds or the set of agro-forestry practices contributed critically to the restoration of the patchy habitat that is optimum for the species. Indirectly, these actions have improved the habitat situation for many other species.
Above all, the main success of the project was the collaboration with private owners. In fact, this is one of the main challenges of Natura 2000, to make possible an adequate management of resources making compatible traditional uses with conservation. This management has to be necessarily sustained on good understanding with private owners and other stakeholders. This is indeed not something easy to achieve, and it is important to take into account that in many occasions private estates are owned, managed and used by persons or sectors not traditionally committed to nature conservation.
This project signed agreements with 10 private estates. All the measures implemented were previously agreed with the private owners. The actions foresaw in each estate included the design of a working plan which involved actions such as improvements of pastureland, increases of rabbit populations and support and fostering of good pruning practices. The estates co-financed the project assuming the surveillance costs made by their guards. The experience was very positive and successful and received a lot of attention from the involved sector so the project opened a trail to ease the management of many Natura 2000 areas with similar problems.
The main demonstration value of the project was the preparation of a Handbook for the management of estates in Mediterranean Environment. This handbook summarises the knowledge created through out the project. As a consequence of the project, an agreement was signed with the Spanish Hunting Federation. The objective is to continue, improve and disseminate the management practices carried out among the hunting sector. The private owners created an association and invited CBD foundation to participate, in order to disseminate and further promote the management designed by the project. Furthermore, as a consequence of the successful results attained in this project, different NGOs and the Spanish Ministry of Environment began to implement the same strategy mainly with the aim to recover Lynx populations.
The project had therefore a very important pump priming effect. Looking to the future, it is necessary that public administrations as well as private owners commit themselves to the maintenance of the management model. Implementation of alternative ways of funding should be found, (e.g. through specific programmes of the regional governments, agro-environment framework, etc.) In addition, some of the implemented actions such as the supplementary feeding, rabbit restocking or some habitat management will require further evaluation and reinforcement.
