Some technicians of the LIFE Habitat Lince Abutre project have visited Spain, on the 9^th and 10th of December 2010, in order to obtain some relevant technical information to be used towards accomplishing the objectives of the project.

They had a meeting with Dr. Rubén Moreno-Opo at the Environment Ministry’s headquarters in Madrid, where they discussed the issue of setting up a network of feeding stations for vultures. Dr. Moreno-Ono is an acknowledged Black Vulture specialist, and offered his book “Handbook on the Management of Black Vulture Populations and their Habitat in Spain”, which was originated by a previous LIFE project and currently represents a basic tool both for our project and for Black Vulture conservation in general.

They also met José Aguilar, president of Colectivo Azálvaro, at El Espinar, Segóvia. The Colectivo Azálvaro is the ENGO that manages the “Network of Vulture Feeding Stations in Southern Segóvia”, inserted in the project “Vultur-Voltoya”. Our team witnessed in first hand some of the results of the actions currently taking place there, including the creation of a Vehicle Cleaning and Disinfection Center, a trailer that has been approved for transporting animal sub-products to the feeding stations, and several vulture feeding stations and their bird observatories. Along side the visit to their facilities, there was also time for sharing information regarding the design and construction of a suitable trailer and the legal issues surrounding the vulture feeding stations.

The technical team of the LIFE Habitat Lince Abutre project wishes to thank both Rubén Moreno-Opo and José Aguilar for their help, hoping that this was a starting point for future collaboration.