The Biodiversity Foundation joins the celebration of the first World Wildlife Day with the support of initiatives that contribute to the preservation of more than 50 threatened species in Spain.

The Biodiversity Foundation joins the celebration of the first World Wildlife Day with the support of initiatives that contribute to the preservation of more than 50 threatened species in Spain.

For the development of these actions, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA), through the Biodiversity Foundation, has allocated more than 1.5 million euros to the LIFE+ Cantabrian Capercaillie, Desmania and SOS Veneno projects, as well as to thirteen initiatives related to the conservation of species within the framework of the Biodiversity Foundation’s call for grants in 2013.

Through this contribution, the Biodiversity Foundation is committed not only to the conservation of emblematic species of the Iberian Peninsula such as the brown bear or the bearded vulture, but also directs its efforts towards the conservation of other lesser-known species but also very important from an ecological point of view, such as the Iberian desman, the lesser shrike or the Cabrera vole.

The European Union’s LIFE+ Programme is a fundamental tool for the conservation of species and habitats of the Natura 2000 Network, for raising awareness among the population and for socio-economic development, especially in rural areas. In this framework, conservation projects for endangered species stand out, such as the Iberian lynx, the Cantabrian capercaillie or the Iberian desman, whose last populations reside in our country and which, thanks to LIFE+ projects, can develop important actions for their conservation.

In the case of the Cantabrian capercaillie, the LIFE+ project “Programme of urgent actions for the conservation of the capercaillieTetrao urogallus cantabricus and its habitat in the Cantabrian Mountains” promotes various actions to stop the decline of this type of forest bird exclusive to the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula and promote the recovery of this endangered species.

The Iberian desman is also one of the species included in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species as an endangered species. This aquatic mammal that lives in the vicinity of rivers, torrents and lakes in mountainous areas has suffered a significant decline in the Central System due to the decrease in the quality and quantity of river water, the degradation of the riparian forests that serve as a refuge, and the presence of the American mink. The LIFE+ project Conservation and Recovery Programme for Galemys pyrenaicus and its habitat in Castilla y León and Extremadura contributes to its recovery.

For other species, the main threat is the illegal use of poison. This is the case of the Iberian imperial eagle, the Egyptian vulture, the black vulture, the Bonelli’s eagle, the red kite, the black kite or the bearded vulture. In addition to these birds, mammals such as the brown bear or the Iberian wolf also suffer the effects of the venom. The use of poison not only causes the immediate death of the specimens but also the loss of territories, the decrease in generational renewal or the isolation of their populations. The LIFE+ SOS Veneno project, coordinated by SEO/BirdLife and in which the MAGRAMA collaborates, contributes to preventing, detecting and prosecuting the illegal use of poison in Spain.

In addition to the LIFE+ projects, there are those initiatives for the conservation of endangered species co-financed through the 2013 call for grants for the implementation of activities related to biodiversity, climate change and environmental quality.

Within this framework, there are projects aimed at promoting the recovery and conservation of species such as the Iberian lynx, the Cantabrian brown bear, the European mink, the baby basin or goat vole, the bittern, the lesser shrike, the Iberian crayfish, imperial and Bonelli’s eagles, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, the European pond turtle and the marbled teal. as well as more than a dozen waterfowl, among other species.

In the field of marine biodiversity, the Biodiversity Foundation coordinates the LIFE+ INDEMARES project, which is the largest marine research and conservation effort carried out in Spain.

Within the framework of this project, numerous species included in the Habitats and Birds Directives, in the OSPAR and Barcelona Conventions and many of them included in the National Catalogue of Endangered Species and in the IUCN red book have been studied, among which we can highlight the bottlenose dolphin, the common porpoise, the loggerhead turtle, the pilot whale, the Balearic shearwater, the Cory’s shearwater, the Madeira storm-petrel, deep-sea sharks, various species of corals such as the red coral (Corallium rubrum) and different species of algae present on the Maërl seabed such as Phymatolithon calcareum y Lythothamnion coralloides. In addition, numerous species new to science have been discovered.

World Wildlife Day 

The United Nations has declared March 3 as World Wildlife Day, the date on which the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was adopted. This international agreement between states aims to prevent, through the application of common rules, that the international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants seriously threatens their survival.

World Wildlife Day aims to celebrate and raise awareness of the benefits provided by wild fauna and flora in the world, as well as to raise awareness of the need to combat wildlife crime more intensively, which has broad economic, environmental and social repercussions.