This October, the Department of Climate Action has begun habitat recovery work in the protected area of ??Mas de Melons, between Les Garrigues and El Segrià, to encourage the Dupont’s lark to colonize it.
It is an endangered bird that in Catalonia has only been found in the Alfés thyme, very close to Mas de Melons.
For this reason, work has now begun to clear vegetation and plant species such as thyme and rosemary or helm are being planted in an area that could reach 300 hectares.
All of this is part of the European Life Connect Ricotí project, in which Catalonia participates, together with Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha with a budget of 5.5 million euros.
The Dupont’s lark is a very cryptic bird that is almost never heard and is also very difficult to see.
In Catalonia it was detected for the first time in 1983, in the Alfés thyme area. A few specimens were counted until the early 2000s when it was considered extinct because its trace was lost. Later, in 2016 it reappeared in the same area.
The person responsible for Sectoral Evaluation of the Department of Climate Action, Mariano Rojo, explains that the Dupont’s lark has a “habit” of going unnoticed. It breeds on the ground and is practically neither heard nor seen.
The Life project aims to expand its population and distribution throughout the territory. The actions that began this October affect about 200 hectares in which vegetation will be cleared and another 50 hectares in which nearly 40,000 plants will be planted. In a second phase of the project, the objective is to reach 300 hectares.
Rojo has advanced that improvements will also be made in livestock infrastructure, due to the disappearance of extensive livestock farmers, which are a “key piece for the maintenance of habitats”, especially that of the Dupont’s lark, which feeds on insects that eat sheep feces. For this reason, drinking troughs and fences will be made to keep the sheep. All of this represents, according to Rojo, a “powerful scientific monitoring” that must validate the results of the entire project, which has a duration of 5 years.
Although the most visible works have now begun, the project has already been in the preparatory phase for 2 years, there will now be about three years of implementation on the ground.
The overall budget for the State as a whole is 5.5 million euros, of which four are financed by the European Union. Specifically, in Catalonia the planned expenditure is 1.7 million. The Autonomous University of Madrid is the one who coordinates all the actions.
The Life Connect Ricotí project is the continuation of the Life Ricotí project, which focused exclusively on the Soria area. Now, taking advantage of the experience acquired in habitat management and management, a more ambitious objective is proposed: to improve the connectivity of Dupont’s lark populations through the management and restoration of quality habitats and the translocation of individuals, expanding the area of ????action in Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León.
