Planning and preparation of the concrete conservation actions and elaboration of studies and plans. These actions produce practical recommendations and/or information for an effective implementation of the conservation actions of the project.


Cartography and identification of priority areas for intervention
Contacts and negotiation of management agreements for landowners, managers and olive producers
Studies and elaboration of plans


Cartography and identification of priority areas for intervention

In a first phase of the project, it will be done a characterization and evaluation at a large scale of the five areas of the Natura 2000 network where the project is taking place, concerning potential habitats for the targeted species (Iberian lynx and Black Vulture), to identify the priority areas for intervention (the more suitable) before starting the implementation of the conservation actions.
In a second phase, the areas identified as of ‘top priority’ will be analyzed at a more exact scale, i.e. estate / hunting area scale. The objective is to map in detail different variables, such as the habitat, availability of preys and human activities, to better evaluate and quantify the measures necessary to implement aiming the conservation of the Iberian lynx and the Black Vulture. The information collected will be used in the elaboration and negotiation of management agreements with landowners, managers (including game managers) and olive producers, defining a set of specific conservation and management actions for each estate / hunting area.


Contacts and negotiation of management agreements for landowners, managers and olive producers

The objective of this action is the establishment of management agreements with landowners, managers (including game managers) and olive producers in the estates / hunting areas identified after the accomplishment of habitat and prey surveys at the estate scale, in the five areas of the Natura 2000 network. The agreements will include management plans for each estate / hunting area, which will enable the implementation of the conservation actions predicted in the project, viewing the recovery and promotion of the Mediterranean habitat and food resources of the targeted species.
This action is of great importance because, currently, in Portugal, the maintenance of Mediterranean habitat and the conservation of the targeted species are highly dependent on management measures (e.g. agriculture, grazing, hunting activity) which are practiced at the private estate level (dominant in the south of Portugal), and that can be compatible with conservation. The management agreements, for which management plans are elaborated together with the respective landowner and/or manager, will ensure this compatibility, promoting and allowing the implementation of conservation measures suitable to the targeted species’ safeguard, accordingly to the project’s objectives. Additionally, this action will help fighting the lack of information (and communication) relatively to the conservation of nature, as it involves several local stakeholders in the conservation activities.


Studies and elaboration of plans

- Elaboration of a poison mitigation plan: research and description of the impacts of the use of poison on the Iberian lynx and, especially, on the Black Vulture, as well as on other wild and domestic species present at the Special Protection Areas of Mourão/Moura/Barrancos and Guadiana Valley and at the Sites of Community Importance of Moura/Barrancos and Guadiana. This action is expected to determine the real dimension of poison use in the area of the project, identify the causes and motivations for the use of poison, determine areas of risk, determine the impact of the use of poison on wild populations and prepare an intervention plan at the scale of the study area. This action, which will be articulated with ‘Programa Antídoto Portugal’ (Portugal’s Antidote Programme) and the Management Plan of the Guadiana Valley Natural Park, is of great importance because, in Portugal, the impact of the use of poison in wild species is little known and potentially underestimated, besides being one of the main threats to Black Vulture’s survival.

- Evaluation of the sanitary status of domestic and wild fauna that share pathologies and potential habitat with the Iberian lynx: elaboration and implementation of a methodological protocol for epidemiological evaluation based on the collection of samples and on laboratorial tests to biological material from domestic and wild animals that share pathologies and potential habitat with the Iberian lynx, to detect and quantify the presence of pathogenic agents that affect this species in the area of the project. Based on this information, at the end of the project a technical report will be written with the characterization of the sanitary status of the sampled species present at the intervention area, including the location of potential dangerous reservoirs of those pathologies. It will also be elaborated a plan for monitoring and control the main pathologies found, and measures will be applied to reduce the risk of contamination in the affected areas.

- Elaboration of an Action Plan for the conservation of the Black Vulture at the regional scale (Mourão/Moura/Barrancos SPA and Guadiana Valley SPA): this Plan will turn out to be a tool for the conservation of the Black Vulture at the regional and local scale, trying to conciliate local activities with the conservation of nature, in particularly the Black Vulture, and proposing measures and recommendations to mitigate the threats identified to the species. It is intended that the Plan resulting from this action incorporates the National Action Plan for the Conservation of the Black Vulture in Portugal, and it may also prove to be an important contribution to the revision of the Action Plan of the European Union.