The Management Committee of the LIFE+ Desmania project, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, has met in Madrid with the aim of addressing issues related to the status and development of the project.
 
During the meeting, the status of execution of the actions was reviewed with a view to the preparation of the project’s interim report, which highlights the completion of the preparatory studies on the species and its habitat and the preparation of conservation actions, which are at a very advanced stage. These studies have been submitted to the Management Committee for review.
 
In addition, the main results and conclusions of the preparatory actions have been analysed, on which all the actions that will be carried out to improve the habitat of the Iberian desman and act on its main threats are based. These actions have consisted of systematic sampling in search of desman populations, with successes as satisfactory as the rediscovery of an important population in El Tormes (Ávila) and the preparation of studies to identify the main threats it suffers. In this sense, conservation actions have been planned that are in the preparation phase and that consist of the elimination or correction of barriers in rivers such as weirs or the revegetation of slopes and a boost has been given to the awareness and communication section, thanks to the traveling exhibition, the holding of workshops in Extremadura or the preparation of a manual and a didactic unit.
 
LIFE+ Desmania aims to conserve the Iberian desman (Galemys pyrenaicus), a small aquatic mammal that inhabits the vicinity of rivers, streams and lakes in mountainous areas and is distributed from the French side of the Pyrenees to Portugal, although it is in Spain where most of its population is found. The actions of the project aim to improve their conservation status and that of their habitat, promote environmental education and encourage awareness and participation in society.
 
This project, 50% co-financed by the European Commission, is being developed in Natura 2000 Network areas in the provinces of León, Zamora, Salamanca, Ávila, Palencia and Cáceres.