From 8 to 10 May, the European Commission visited the areas of action of the LIFE+ Desmania project, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation.

From 8 to 10 May, the European Commission visited the areas of action of the LIFE+ Desmania project, coordinated by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment. The visit was also attended by representatives of other institutions that are part of the project, such as the Junta de Castilla y León, the Natural Heritage Foundation of Castilla y León and CESEFOR. The objective of this trip has been to visit the different works carried out, already completed, and executed within the framework of the project during the years 2015, 2016 and 2017, and thus evaluate the progress in its execution.   In addition, two meetings have been held, one of a technical nature and the other administrative, to discuss matters of operation of the project.

During the first of the days, different works were visited in the region of Sanabria (Zamora), on the Trefacio and Truchas rivers, such as the reconstruction of three semi-submerged dams, the partial restoration of a dam in an irrigation canal and the removal of wood remains and other materials that blocked the river, all in order to improve the longitudinal connectivity of the habitat of the Iberian desman and facilitate its mobility throughout the river. length of the riverbed.

On Tuesday, May 9, various actions were visited in the province of León, such as a cutting of alders (Alnus glutinosa) in the Selmo River (in the SAC Riberas del Río Sil and tributaries) infected by Phytophthora alni, a fungus that has effects on riverside vegetation, which indirectly means a decrease in the trophic quality and refuge of the habitat for desman. Subsequently, the team has moved to the SACs Montaña Central de León and Hoces de Vegacervera to visit actions on the River Torío, such as the construction of small dikes, the restoration of a waste dump, the removal of rubbish in the riverbed and the development of silvicultural treatments, all with the aim of improving the riverside habitat. reduce non-natural threats to desman and reduce threats in priority habitats.

The third and last day of the visit has been dedicated to seeing different works in the SAC Picos de Europa in Castilla y León, such as the cuttinging of different points of the course of the Maraña, Esla, Lechada, Valponguero and Yuso rivers with seedlings of the Salix genus, and garbage removal actions, all to improve the river and riverside habitat of this species. as well as the site of the Portilla de la Reina dam, which will be demolished throughout this summer.