LIFE Project: Sustainable Agricultural Approaches for the Conservation of Agrosteppe Habitats and Species in Nature 2000
- Type Project
- Status In progress
- Execution 2021 -2026
- Assigned Budget 3.315.951,00 €
- Scope Europeo
- Autonomous community Madrid, Comunidad de
- Main source of financing LIFE
- Project website Web del proyecto
The project will contribute to the implementation of the EU directives on habitats and birds, the EU 2030 Biodiversity Strategy, and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. The project aims to demonstrate that farmers, ranchers, and nature conservationists can work together for the future of these agro-steppe systems and the protected birds that find their last refuge in Europe. It also aims to offer the government a consensus-based model of good practices in agro-steppe environments, to be integrated into agricultural and rural development policies, making agricultural management compatible with the biodiversity of these areas.
The progressive intensification of agricultural and livestock farming practices (including chemical treatments, early harvesting of fodder crops, reduction of long-term fallow areas and removal of boundaries with natural vegetation), promoted through the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in Spain, is causing a significant deterioration in the conservation status of the EU priority protected habitat type Pseudosteppe with grasses and annual Thero-Brachypodietea (6220*). This trend is also threatening steppe bird species, in particular the little bustard ( Tetrax tetrax ) and the great bustard ( Otis tarda ), both considered priority species for conservation at EU level, and also the Montagu's harrier ( Circus pygargus ).
Over the last decade, the populations of these species have suffered significant declines on the Iberian Peninsula. Specifically, according to national censuses in Spain, the great bustard has shown a negative trend of more than 30% (2005-2019), the little bustard by 48% (2005-2016), and the Montagu's harrier by 23% (2006-2017). In the Autonomous Community of Extremadura, these declines are even more severe (great bustard by 47%, little bustard by 64%, and Montagu's harrier by 41%). Similar declines have been recorded in Portugal: a 49% reduction in the great bustard population (2003-2016), while in the case of the Montagu's harrier, the population loss is estimated at around 80%. Furthermore, invertebrates, a fundamental part of these ecosystems, also appear to be suffering negative trends.
- Improvement of the conservation status of priority habitat 6220* of the EU Habitats Directive "Pseudo-steppe with grasses and annual Thero-Brachypodietea plants" (at least 300 ha in a favourable initial state, with particular attention to improving its invertebrate communities).
- Improving the conservation status of the little bustard (Tetrax tetrax), the great bustard (Otis tarda), and the Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus). To this end, the project will implement management measures in at least 600 hectares of areas identified as critical.
- Promote the use of traditional grain varieties that, in addition to promoting bird conservation, also serve to offer higher value-added products (at least 100 ha).
- To achieve a broad and replicable model and transfer project measures to all major habitat areas and target species in Spain and Portugal.
- Incorporation of the project's best agricultural practices into the agricultural and rural development policies of the Autonomous Communities of Extremadura and Aragon.
- Strengthening the legal protection of steppe species in Extremadura.
- Improving the conservation status of habitat type 6220* by applying direct management measures in at least 300 ha in the most degraded areas
- A 10% increase in the reproductive success rate for all target bird species, which represents more than 70% of the target species populations in the Natura 2000 Network of Extremadura and Aragon;
- Balanced levels of predatory mammal populations in the breeding areas of target species
- Reduction in pesticide use in the project's Natura 2000 areas by at least 25%.
- Modification and increased bird visibility of power lines and fences that are the most dangerous for the project's target species, as identified in preliminary studies.
- Long-term land management agreements have been reached to implement conservation measures and project objectives on over 1,000 hectares in areas with the highest nesting densities of target species.
- Legal integration of the best agricultural measures into the CAP financing schemes and the rural development plans of the Autonomous Communities of Extremadura and Aragon.
- At least 10% of the land areas included in land stewardship agreements (100 ha) benefit from the cultivation of new cereal varieties with higher added value.
- Official approval of the Integrated Plan for the Conservation and Recovery of Steppe Birds in Extremadura.
- Expansion of the Natura 2000 Network in Extremadura.
- Coordinator/entity name: José María Sánchez
Postal address: Melquiades Biencinto nº 34, 28053, Madrid,
- Sociedad Española de Ornitología
- LPN(Liga para a Protecção da Natureza)
- BIOPOLIS (Associação BIOPOLIS ),SPEA(Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves)
- DG_SOST(Dirección General de Sostenibilidad. Consejería de Transición Ecológica y Sostenibilidad de la Junta de Extremadura)
- DG_AGRI(Dirección General de Agricultura y Ganadería. Consejería de Agricultura, Desarrollo Rural y Territorio de la Junta de Extremadura)
- ASAJA CC(Asociación Agraria Jóvenes Agricultores de Cáceres)
- CICYTEX(Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas de Extremadura)
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