Conservation

Tuesday, May 28 is the day scheduled for the first of three releases of lesser kestrel chicks to be carried out this year under the LIFE ZEPAURBAN Project, a project developed in Extremadura and coordinated by the General Directorate of the Environment of the Government of Extremadura, with DEMA as a beneficiary partner.

On the 17th, 18th, and 19 of May, the XI City of Cáceres Bird Festival will be held, organized by the General Directorate of Tourism and with the collaboration of the General Directorate of the Environment, Cáceres Provincial Council, and Cáceres City Council. Within the context of this festival, on Friday the 17th we invite you to the VII Conference on “URBAN SPAS OF EXTREMADURA.

The first lesser kestrels began to frequent the colonies during the first half of the last month of February, and during the following weeks some individuals that had been tagged with GPS transmitters during the 2018 breeding season under Action A2 of the LIFE ZEPAURBAN project could be observed.  The partner Terra Naturalis is responsible for aforementioned Action A2.

For yet another year, the LIFE ZEPAURBAN Project received a visit from the external team to supervise the work being undertaken. On the 19th and 20th of March, the third monitoring visit for the LIFE ZEPAURBAN Project took place under the direction of Sara Mora, the individual responsible for the Nemo-Idom team's monitoring of the project.

As part of the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN Project, a series of activities have been started designed to disseminate the wealth of the birding community at the urban SPAs of Extremadura, with special attention being paid to the lesser kestrel, as well as to raise awareness among the local population about the need to protect the area as well as about its potential as a tourist resource. These actions revolve around talks and guided tours for schoolchildren, as well as other activities that are open to the rest of the population.

In mid-February, the first lesser kestrels began to arrive at the San Vicente de Alcántara SPA (Badajoz) after spending the winter in Africa. As part of Action C3 of the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN Project, the reinforcement or recovery of a lesser kestrel colony at risk of disappearance was contemplated. The chosen colony was that of San Vicente de Alcántara, which had disappeared years ago. The recovery work for this colony began in 2018 with the construction of the release module in the church tower and the transfer of the first 50 chicks born in captivity at the DEMA Breeding Center.

One of the main factors when establishing the protection criteria for a species such as the lesser kestrel is to know, as accurately as possible, where their main feeding areas are and what environmental characteristics those areas possess.

This January work has started to improve nesting sites for lesser kestrels in the following churches: San Vicente the Martyr in San Vicente de Alcántara, San Mateo in Alburquerque and San Bartolomé in Jerez de los Caballeros. All this work is part of the Action C1 Improving nest sites in buildings of heritage value in the urban SPAs of Extremadura in the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN project.

As part of action A6 nest boxes are being manufactured industrially by the partner Prefabricados Extremadura 2002 and are available for installation in colonies of lesser kestrels.

Once the design phase was over, undertaken primarily by DEMA, testing was carried out in laboratories by INTROMAC, a partner in the LIFE project responsible for new materials as well as in the Church of the Purification in the SPA (Lesser kestrel colonies of Almendralejo”. The nest boxes developed in the framework of the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN project are now being produced and are ready for installation. 

The director of the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN project, Atanasio Fernández García, participated, giving a talk “LIFE-ZEPAURBAN:  conservation activities in lesser kestrel colonies in Extremadura” focused on the work underway in the project on buildings of heritage value.