Poisoning, food scarcity, collisions at wind farms and power lines, as well as electrocutions are some of the biggest threats for the majority of raptors and vultures. Moreover, many breeding populations are isolated and most species have low reproduction rates. For this reason, there are major concerns about the long-term survival of these species in Europe and the Mediterranean.

These aspects were discussed at the European Vulture Conference 2019 - #Vultures2019, which took place in Albufeira, Algarve (Portugal) from 1 to 4 October: Representatives of national and regional authorities, scientists, conservationists and the public gathered at this international congress to discuss about the latest research and conservation status of vultures in Europe and beyond.

The IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation participated with a presentation of IUCN’s latest general recommendations for managing the impacts of renewable energy sources on biodiversity and the list of threatened species affected by those impacts, as well as an introduction to IUCN's work in North Africa on transboundary conservation of threatened raptors and on power lines.

To this regard, IUCN-Med has just published a set of practical guidelines with the support of the MAVA Foundation for identifying and preventing interactions with potentially dangerous power lines. This is the result of the actions developed during the last years to promote cooperation between the Mediterranean actors involved in the conservation of raptors. The ultimate goal is to contribute to minimize the threats to raptors in the Mediterranean and more particularly in North Africa.

In the coming days, IUCN-Med will launch a useful mobile application, that facilitates the identification of the most dangerous powerlines affecting raptors in the Mediterranean. It will also help companies in the electricity sector address conservation issues related to their operations.

For further information: Violeta Barrios

Photo: © Tomáš Bělka, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species