Photo by: Roberto Sánchez

LIFE SOS Pygargus – Ações urgentes de conservação das populações de tartaranhão-caçador em Portugal e Espanha

Duration:
6 years
Years:
2024-2030
Species:
Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus)
Funding:
LIFE23/NAT/PT/LIFE/SOS-Pygargus/101148303
Collaborators:
Project partners: AEPGA – Associação para o Estudo e Proteção do Gado Asinino; AMUS – Acción por el Mundo Salvaje; ANPOC – Associação Nacional de Produtores de Proteaginosas, Oleaginosas e Cereais; Consejería de Agricultura, Ganadería y Desarrollo Sostenible – Junta de Extremadura; DRAP-N – Direção Regional de Agricultura e Pescas do Norte; EDIA – Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infraestruturas do Alqueva, S.A.; GREFA – Grupo de Rehabilitación de la Fauna Autóctona y su Hábitat; ICNF – Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas; INIAV – Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária; LPN – Liga para a Proteção da Natureza; MC Shared Services; Modelo Continente Hipermercados, S.A.; Palombar – Associação de Conservação da Natureza e do Património Rural (coordination); SPEA – Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves; Universidad de Murcia; UTAD – Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro; Vita Nativa – Conservação do Ambiente.

The LIFE SOS Pygargus Project – Urgent Conservation Actions to sustain Portuguese and transborder populations of the Montagu’s Harrier (https://www.sospygargus.pt/en/) is an Iberian project co-funded (75%) by the European Union’s LIFE Programme.

It brings together conservationists, farmers, scientists, and public and private organisations in an unprecedented effort to prevent the imminent extinction of this migratory bird in the Iberian Peninsula.

Main objectives of the project:

  • Halt the current and severe decline of Montagu’s Harrier populations in Portugal and western Spain.
  • Significantly reduce mortality and nest destruction, with the goal of achieving a 75% reduction in mortality and a 50% increase in the breeding population.
  • Adapt agricultural practices to the species’ breeding cycle by promoting the use of cereal and forage crop varieties that are more compatible with its ecological requirements.
  • Raise public awareness of the importance of Montagu’s Harrier conservation, while fostering cooperation between Portugal and Spain for the cross-border conservation of this species.