The Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Water, Josep Puxeu, in his capacity as President of the Autonomous National Parks Agency and the Board of Trustees of the Biodiversity Foundation, has presented in Madrid the LIFE+ project “Programme of urgent actions for the conservation of the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) and its habitat in the Cantabrian Mountains”.

The Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Water, Josep Puxeu, in his capacity as President of the Autonomous National Parks Agency and the Board of Trustees of the Biodiversity Foundation, has presented in Madrid the LIFE+ project “Programme of urgent actions for the conservation of the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) and its habitat in the Cantabrian Mountains”.

The event was also attended by the Director General of Biodiversity and Landscape of the Ministry of the Environment, Territorial Planning and Infrastructures of the Government of Asturias, José Félix García Gaona; the General Director of Biodiversity of the Ministry of Rural Development, Livestock, Fisheries and Biodiversity of the Government of Cantabria, María Eugenia Calvo Rodríguez; the Director General of the Natural Environment of the Ministry of the Environment of the Government of Castilla y León, José Ángel Arranz; the General Director of Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Rural Affairs of the Xunta de Galicia, Ricardo García-Borregón Millán; the President of SEO/BirdLife, Eduardo de Juana and the Director of the Iberdrola Foundation, Mr. Luis Carlos Martínez.

The main objective of this initiative is to stop the loss of this subspecies endemic to the Iberian Peninsula, which in recent decades has lost a large part of its population, and to promote its recovery. The Cantabrian capercaillie is listed by the IUCN as critically endangered.

The causes that threaten their conservation status are mainly found in the fragmentation of their habitat, the low reproduction rate and the high degree of predation. To neutralize these threats, a homogeneous, complete and transversal action program has been designed for the entire distribution area of the species, combining in-situ conservation actions (habitat improvements, control of predators and competitors, reduction of unnatural mortality, etc.) with ex-situ actions (captive breeding program and population reinforcement).

The programme that has been presented is articulated around three lines of action for the conservation of this emblematic hen: to promote reproductive success and the survival of adults; guaranteeing the conservation of their favourable habitats through restoration and improvement actions, ensuring connectivity between population centres; and promoting social awareness and public participation, increasing knowledge about the species and its habitat.

The initiative is 50% co-financed by the European Commission through the LIFE+ funds, and has as partners the Autonomous Communities of Asturias, Galicia, Cantabria and Castilla y León (through the Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León), with the Autonomous Agency for National Parks, with SEO/BirdLife and with funding from the Iberdrola Foundation. present since the beginning of the project, and will be coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation. Its area of action is the Cantabrian mountain range and will be executed between October 2010 and September 2014, with a budget of 7 million euros.

The LIFE+ project “Programme of urgent actions for the conservation of the capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabricus) and its habitat in the Cantabrian Mountains” aims to comply with both the National Strategies for the Conservation of Species provided for in the Law on Natural Heritage and Biodiversity and the priorities of the Cibeles Strategy established in January 2010 in Madrid. and whose overall objective is to halt the loss of biodiversity in Europe.