The Council of Ministers at its meeting today has authorised the signing of a Collaboration Agreement between the Autonomous Agency of National Parks, of the Ministry of the Environment, and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) for the implementation of the project “Scientific monitoring of the imperial eagles of Doñana”.

The total budget of this project, which covers from this year to 2009, amounts to 198,680 euros, of which National Parks will invest 126,315 euros and 23,620 euros in material and human resources. For its part, the CSIC, through the Doñana Biological Station, will contribute with material and human resources that have been valued at 48,745 euros.

The Iberian imperial eagle is one of the most endangered species in the world and is listed in the “Endangered” category in the National Catalogue of Threatened Species. For this reason, the National Commission for the Protection of Nature, a collegiate body for coordination between the Ministry of the Environment and the Autonomous Communities, approved in 2001 the National Strategy for the conservation of the Iberian imperial eagle.

This study, which is contemplated in the Plan of urgent actions for the conservation of the Iberian imperial eagle in Doñana”, has been favourably reported by the Board of Trustees of the National Park and approved by the Joint Commission for the Management of the National Parks of Andalusia. Its purpose is to know the movements of all the specimens of this species, subpopulation of Doñana, which are very separated from the other subpopulations.

The threats to this species, including the illegal use of poisons, have caused a sharp decline. In addition, its high territoriality and the low probability of chicks born in other areas establishing themselves in Doñana have made it difficult for the species to recover, as has happened in other areas. The observation by scientists of these facts indicates that there may be undetected causes of mortality.

Therefore, this study is key to knowing the detailed movements of the birds and as established in the collaboration agreement, the marked imperial eagles will be subject to rigorous monitoring. With the data obtained, scientific analyses will be carried out to be more effective in the conservation of the strategic population center of Doñana