The initiative sought to achieve, in the southeast area of the Community of Madrid, an optimal environment for the little owl, through sustainable habitat management.

The initiative sought to achieve, in the southeast area of the Community of Madrid, an optimal environment for the little owl, through sustainable habitat management.

The main cause of the alarming decline that the European little owl has suffered throughout Europe, including in Spain (with a 40% reduction in the population in 15 years) is the change in land use, mainly due to the homogenization of the habitat that entails the intensification of agriculture.

It is, therefore, a matter of recovering the physical elements that provide ideal environments for this bird of prey and promoting a sustainable use of these systems.

To this end, it is essential to involve the owners or users of the land on which the owl may live in the project, highlighting the possibility of obtaining a tangible benefit for them (such as the reduction of the cost of land management, the sponsorship and promotion of a product generated from the sustainable use of the territory or the increase in profitability by promoting other economic activities).

The specific objectives are:

• Develop a demonstrative project of management and use of the territory that favors the owl population, while being beneficial for the owner.
• To facilitate the application, in the future and elsewhere, of management systems and land uses that are favourable and compatible with the conservation of the little owl.
• To test the positive effect that can be exerted on owl populations through the management of the species and its habitat.

To this end, the following activities have been developed:

Carry out actions to improve and restore the habitat to make it favourable to the presence of the little owl. In total, improvement measures were visited, analysed and applied in a total of 60 different locations, occupying a total of about 77 hectares.

Promote the use of systems of use (agriculture, livestock, hunting) and habitat uses that favour the presence of the little owl. For greater consolidation of the practices that favor the presence of birds, a small document of good practices in the cultivation of olive groves was prepared.

Safeguarding of existing nesting sites. The nests have been located and their condition assessed. Except for the restoration of majanos, no actions have been undertaken in this regard.

Create new nesting sites for short, medium and long-term use (artificial nests, reforestation with suitable tree species). Nesting sites have been created at three temporal levels: in the short term, through the placement of nest boxes, in case there are limitations in the present; in the medium term, through structures such as stone majanos, which are much more durable; and in the long term, through the isolated planting of suitable tree species, when the physical environment may have changed significantly.

Sponsor a product made from a sustainable and owl-friendly system. The products generated on the land included in the project have been identified as “Products made through agricultural uses favourable to the little owl”. Material has been edited to identify 7,000 products.

Advertise the product as a sign of sustainable management. An advertising campaign has been carried out for the labelled products. In addition, a public event was held to present the labelling of the same and it was disseminated on the Biodiversity Foundation page and social networks.

Advice to other owners/users from other places regarding the management and use of the territory. A printed diptych has been prepared with practical information on how to carry out a sustainable use of the olive grove, which has been made available to a wide audience, especially in the region.

Dissemination of the situation and problems of the little owl, as well as the actions that can be carried out to benefit their populations. The informative diptych has been distributed, an extensive press campaign has been carried out and informative activities have been carried out with schoolchildren.

Monitor the natural nesting sites and those created in the project.Two systems have been designed that allow the evaluation of the quality of the habitat achieved. Both systems, which are very much in line with the European strategy for the species, have been based on carrying out density censuses and ringing tasks, in a standardized way and regularly distributed over time.

Conduct a population reinforcement experiment in a defined area. The reinforcement consisted of the direct release of owls admitted and recovered in the Brinzal center or born in captivity in it. Previously, anti-predation training had been carried out with all juvenile individuals. 31 owls were released throughout 2012.