Cernícalo primilla

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.

ALGAKON, the company selected for the campaign, is starting work on awareness-raising and information dissemination to the local population and schools within action E7 of the LIFE-ZEPAURBAN project. In the framework of this action, external assistance was planned to be contracted to provide talks to primary and secondary schools, as well as to provide guided visits to urban centres, for both school students as well as the local population, to increase awareness about the lesser kestrel..

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. 

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”.

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.

Like last year, the General Directorate of Libraries, Museums and Cultural Heritage and the General Directorate of the Environment of the Government of Extremadura have started visits to all the buildings for which they have responsibility during autumn and winter 2018/2019.

Within action A2 of LIFE ZEPAURBAN Study and characterisation of the feeding habitats of lesser kestrels in urban SPAs and roosts in Extremadura, a significant number of individuals have been captured and tagged in three urban SPAs in the region: Acedera (Badajoz), Casa de La Enjarada (Cáceres) and Trujillo (Cáceres).