The Minister of the Environment, Cristina Narbona, presided yesterday, at the headquarters of the Biodiversity Foundation, over the signing of the agreement signed between the director of the Biodiversity Foundation, María Artola, and the executive director of the Spanish Ornithological Society, SEO/BirdLife, Alejandro Sánchez, to contribute to the conservation of the Iberian imperial eagle.

This agreement is part of the Imperial Eagle Conservation Program “Taking flight” that SEO/BirdLife will carry out over the next three years and that has the collaboration of the Biodiversity Foundation, the Administrator of Railway Infrastructures (ADIF) and the Caja Madrid Foundation.

The agreement signed between the Biodiversity Foundation and SEO/BirdLife contemplates the development of the necessary actions established in the National Strategy for the Conservation of the Iberian Imperial Eagle of the Ministry of the Environment, such as the improvement of its habitat and the participation of the various sectors involved, especially the owners of private farms. Thus, it establishes the carrying out of awareness-raising actions, environmental education, workshops with field workers and town councils, as well as direct actions in the conservation of farms through agreements with their owners. The total budget of the project is €357,489, of which the Biodiversity Foundation contributes €100,000.

The planned habitat management actions are located in Campo de Montiel (Ciudad Real) and Sierra Morena, an area that is gaining great importance in the conservation of the Iberian imperial eagle due to the increase in breeding pairs in the area and its importance as a feeding area. Thus, action will be taken in more than 30 farms considered to be the most important to guarantee the settlement and recovery of this species in this territory. These actions are aimed at improving the quality of the habitat of the Iberian imperial eagle, the maintenance of rabbit populations, its main prey, as well as increasing the sensitivity of the population and promoting profitable socio-economic activities compatible with the maintenance of biodiversity.

As for conservation and participation actions, it includes the holding of different workshops on the conservation of the Iberian imperial eagle and the management of its habitat, collaboration with the different administrations in the development of conservation plans, participation in the “Antidote Program” against the illegal use of poisoned baits, as well as the location of dangerous power lines and the carrying out of procedures for their adaptation.

Finally, the dissemination actions are aimed at raising awareness and general dissemination about the species, the management of its habitat and threats, and the monitoring of an Iberian imperial eagle nest on the internet through a webcam. In addition, they will be aimed at transmitting legislative improvements for a policy of tax incentives associated with the conservation of the habitat of endangered species.