Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

Finalizado

Execution date:

2019

End date:

2021

Total budget:

92.253,33 €

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

63.240,00 €

At the beginning of the project, a decade had passed since the only diagnosis of the status of Iberian desman (Galemys pyrenaicus) populations in Spain. During this time, a national strategy has been developed and several studies have been carried out on the species, including several LIFE projects, the results of which do not indicate any improvement in the status of its populations.

Considering that the Iberian desman is listed in the Spanish Catalog of Threatened Species with the category of “Vulnerable” in general and “In danger of extinction” in the Central System, it is essential to re-evaluate their situation in order to, depending on the trend of their populations, propose actions from the Public Administrations to ensure their long-term survival.

The overall objective has been to take a significant step forward in the conservation of the Iberian desman to ensure its long-term survival.

Specific goals include:

• Diagnose the status of Iberian desman populations in Spain.
• Organize the second technical conference on the conservation of the Iberian desman.

• Dissemination and communication of the project: technical seminars, informative publications, media and press.
• Obtaining information on the distribution and conservation status of the Iberian desman, based on the review of projects and reports from the last 10 years and sampling in selected areas. Specifically, different sections of rivers in Guadalajara, Cantabria, Huesca and La Rioja were sampled.
• Organization and holding of the second technical conference on the conservation of the Iberian desman.

• Analysis of 238 reports and publications available from previous projects (2010-2021) and sampling of 87 river sections in selected areas for the elaboration of the diagnosis of the state of the desman in Spain.
• The main conclusion of the diagnosis is that the Iberian desman continues the regressive process detected 10 years ago, estimating a loss of 23% in relation to 2007 data.
• It is concluded that it would be necessary to place the species in a category of greater protection and to initiate population reinforcement actions.
• The second technical conference on desman conservation has been organized and the results have been presented at the XV SECEM Congress.