PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The Lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus) is listed in Annex I of the EU Birds Directive, is classified as a Species of European Conservation Concern (SPEC level 3), and is listed in Appendix II of the Bonn Convention, Annex II of the Bern Convention, and Appendix II of CITES. Italy hosts 85% of the whole European breeding population, distributed in the territory in a discontinuous and fragmentary way with a greater concentration in Sicily. Out of the five subspecies known, only one inhabits Europe: Falco biarmicus feldeggii*. This subspecies is distributed in southern Europe and in small areas in the Caucasus region, and breeds in only three European countries. In recent years, various studies have shown the decrease of the Italian population: in 2007 the National Action Plan indicated a population estimated at 140-172 pairs. In 2014 other data estimated 123-147 pairs, while the most recent scientific study (April 2018) estimated the Italian population as 60-80 breeding pairs and the entire world population as only 119-171 breeding pairs, confirming a dramatic decline.
In Lazio, the population passed from 10-15 pairs in the 1980s, to 4-6 couples in 1990. Since 2001 the population of the Lanner falcon in Lazio has been constantly monitored; since 2016, no nesting pair has been detected. On the Maltese Islands, the Lanner falcon was breeding up to the nineteenth century, but at the present time it is only a vagrant visitor.
OBJECTIVES
The LIFE LANNER project aims at increasing the small population of Lanner falcon (Falco biarmicus feldeggii) in the Lazio region of Italy, preventing its disappearance and promoting the conditions for dispersion of individuals. The conservation actions are consistent with the interventions foreseen in the Italian Action Plan for the Lanner falcon. In addition, the project aims at transferring skills and methodologies to Malta, where it was historically present.
The main objectives of the project are:
use of appropriate captive breeding and hacking techniques to release, over a few years, a large number of young Lanner falcons into the wild, whose movements will be monitored using GPS technology. Several reports indicate that the falcon is very sensitive to noise from human activities (e.g. agriculture). LIFE LANNER will release young birds even in environments where human presence is constant, to make them less sensitive to indirect human disturbance; adapting electricity power lines near nesting sites to makethem safer; genetic mapping of the individuals present in Italy and Malta in museums, zoos, breeding and recovery centres. In particular, Malta represents a crucial monitoring point for a possible genetic exchange between Falco biarmicus feldeggii and the North African subspecies Falco biarmicus erlangeri. For this reason, it is necessary to improve the operational standards of the recovery centre so as to be able to collect all Lanner falcon data; increasing potential nesting sites in areas poorly disturbed by the peregrine falcon and safeguarding open areas with cleaning and reopening to increase feeding areas for the Lanner falcon; and monitoring and protection of nesting pairs from poachers. Today this problem is present only for the Lanner falcon in Sicily, but the Provincial Police of Viterbo and the Guardiparco will monitor this problem. The project implements the objectives of the EU Birds Directive, and international conventions and action plans covering this species.
RESULTS
Expected results:
release of 30 to 50 Lanner falcons in five breeding seasons, either young individuals born at the recovery centre of Lake Vico or purchased from specialised breeding centres; installation of at least 50 GPS on animals that will be released with the technique of hacking, and the installation of 4 hacking boxes in the Lazio region; monitoring of Lanner falcon populations in Lazio and Malta, including at 7 historic nests in Lazio, and the training of 15 people to supervise monitoring; adjustment of existing structures and construction of new cages to realise a captive breeding centre at the Vico Reserve; restoration of 144 ha of natural and semi-natural grasslands, such as hunting areas for young Lanner falcons; restoration of 5 troughs for the pasture of cattle and horses for the maintenance of the prairies by grazing; securing approximately 200 poles along 20 km of medium/low voltage power lines within a radius of 2 km from the hacking boxes; reduction of vegetation on 8 rocky walls as possible future reproductive areas; creation of the national genetic database at IZS-Lazio e Toscana and development of new genetic markers, and update of International Gene Bank with these markers; creation of a recovery centre network for the study of Lanner and other falcons, involving 15 centres of recovery in central and southern Italy and in Malta; preparation of an identification manual for the Lanner falcon, guidelines, and evaluation forms for recovery centres; preparation and approval of the update to the National Action Plan for the Lanner falcon; replication of hacking and other techniques in Montagne della Duchessa Reserve, Greece and in Malta; and 31 public events on the project, involving around 1 790 people, and a national ornithological conference.
