The Ministry of Territorial Policy, Sustainability and Security of the Canary Islands Government, through the General Directorate of Nature Protection and within the framework of the Life Egyptian Vulture project, has put out to tender for 34,200 euros the elaboration of the study 'Evaluation of the conservation status of the Egyptian vulture (Neophron pernopterus majorensis) population in Fuerteventura and Lanzarote and identification of suitable areas for the implementation of supplementary feeding points'.
As explained by the regional Executive, Life Egyptian Vulture is a European project through which the Canary Islands and Italy are joining forces to protect the Egyptian vulture. Thanks to the application of this project, 5,084,605 euros will be allocated to the conservation of the Egyptian vulture in both regions over a period of five years. Of this budget, 3,813,146 euros will be financed by the European Union (EU).
Created to promote the majorensis subspecies in the Islands, whose distribution is restricted to Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, and which is included in the Spanish Catalogue of Endangered Species and in the Canary Islands Catalogue of Protected Species in the category of 'endangered', the European project is also aimed at the conservation of the Egyptian vulture or capovaccaio in Italian (Neophron percnopterus), "a species that, in the European context, is considered threatened and that, in Italy, is at high risk of extinction".
Only 320 specimens in the Canary Islands
The Life Egyptian Vulture, with a duration of five years, was launched in October 2017 and will be developed in the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, "where the Canary Island subspecies majorensis requires special attention, as it still has a limited number of specimens, specifically 320, and in the Italian regions of Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily, where there are still Egyptian vulture nests or migration areas of this species".
Within the framework of this project, the Government of the Canary Islands, through the General Directorate of Nature Protection, will coordinate the application of conservation measures, implement the census and monitoring of the Egyptian vulture population, and carry out dissemination tasks, also taking charge of the surveillance of nesting sites, the creation and management of the two feeding points, the implementation and management of a Canine Antipoison Unit, as well as awareness-raising, sensitisation and educational activities in schools.
In the Canary Islands, the General Directorate of Nature Protection of the Government of the Canary Islands, Gestión y Planeamiento Territorial y Medioambiental (Gesplan) and Endesa Distribución Eléctrica S.L. participate as partners, with the support of the councils of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote and also of the Junta de Andalucía. In Italy, e-distribuzione, the regions of Puglia and Basilicata, the Italian Federation of Natural Parks and Reserves (FEDERPARCHI) and the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA) are involved as partners.
