Conservation

In the middle of June, the release programme of lesser kestrel chicks started, as planned in Action C.3. “Captive-breeding and reinforcement of lesser kestrel colonies at risk of disappearance”.

During the breeding season that has just finished, lesser kestrels that were carrying GPS transmitters have provided a large amount of data.

The large volume of data provided from breeding lesser kestrels marked with GPS transmitters in the colonies of Acedera, Casa de La Enjarada (Cáceres) and Trujillo as part of action A2 of LIFE ZEPARURBAN (Study and characterisation of feeding habitats in the urban SPAs and roosts in Extremadura), will provide detail on the daily activity cycles of the species and how these vary between the sexes and during the breeding season.

Next 24th November there will be VIII Meeting of the Bloggers of Extremadura at the headquarters of the Xavier de Salas Foundation in Trujillo.

The use of cork helps to comply with one of the objectives of the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN project: to develop stronger and safer nest boxes for the species at a lower cost than at present.

Technicians from the General Directorate of the Environment and the General Directorate of Libraries, Museums and Cultural Heritage have continued their visits to the buildings that will be part of the forthcoming programme in the action C1 Improving nest sites in buildings of heritage value in the urban SPAs of Extremadura. On this occasion they have visited the church of San Bartolomé in Jerez de los Caballeros, as well as the Parador of Zafra, both buildings for which there are plans for work in the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN project.

On 14th May 2018, the group of beneficiaries of the Life ZEPAURBAN project received a visit from Sara Mora of the external team NEEMO-IDOM of the European Commission in order to obtain a general view of that the state of the implementation of the project.

The LIFE ZEPAURBAN project, which has amongst its principle objectives the adoption of measures that will ensure the conservation of the lesser kestrel in the urban areas of Extremadura in which it lives, and that these measures can be transferable to the rest of Europe, has started a round of presentations to show the development of work on the creation of a tourism product based on the potential of this species, which is catalogued as threatened because of alteration of its habitat.

The lesser kestrels that have been tagged with GPS transmitters are starting to provide information of great interest for the conservation of the species.

The General Directorate of Tourism as a beneficiary partner of the Life ZEPAURBAN project and as part of its actions for the creation of a tourism product, will be presenting in the forthcoming weeks to the different municipalities involved in the development of this,  the work it is undertaking and the process for development and implementation.