0123_IBERALEX_6_E-
Sustainable management of Iberian beaches and wetlands: Conservation of the Kentish Plover as a tool to make human uses and biodiversity compatible
PRIORITY 4
Protect and conserve biodiversity in natural and rural areas and enhance
natural ecosystems and the urban environment of the cross-border area
through cooperation.
POLITICAL OBJECTIVE
A greener, low-carbon and transitioning Europe towards a net zero carbon,
resilient economy, promoting a clean and equitable energy transition, green and
blue investment, circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation,
risk prevention and management and sustainable urban mobility.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE:
Improve the conservation status of Kentish Plover populations in the
transboundary space, through an integrated management strategy for beaches
and supratidal and inland wetlands that contributes to the compatibility of
human activities and the conservation of their associated biodiversity.
Focusing on the integrated management of the biodiversity of beaches and
wetlands, IBERALEX is launching concerted actions between the two countries
aimed at improving the conservation status of Kentish Plover populations in the
transboundary area and responding to three major common challenges:
1.- To advance in the creation of a space in which different human groups
perceive the need for a sustainable use of beaches and wetlands that is
compatible with the conservation of biodiversity and, in particular, of the Kentish
Plover.
2.- To improve the conservation status of the Kentish Plover.
3.- To increase the knowledge of the Kentish Plover regarding its biology and
ecology to optimize its management and that of its habitats.
RESULTS OF THE PROJECT:
– Increase of the nesting population of the Kentish Plover in the areas of action,
thus contributing to the overall improvement of the species in the transboundary
area and the Iberian Peninsula as a whole.
– Creation of a multidisciplinary and social collaborative environment to improve
the conservation of the Kentish Plover and the biodiversity associated with
beaches and wetlands.
– Increase of the reproductive success and productivity of the species at local
level and improvement of its demography, resulting from direct measures to
reduce the impact of human use and recovery of non-viable nests, through
artificial incubation and captive breeding of chicks.
– Increase and improvement of the available habitat for the development of all
phases of their life cycle, benefiting other species of fauna and flora dependent
on beaches and wetlands.
– Creation of a management protocol for the habitats where the species is
present, which will be useful throughout the transboundary area and the entire
European distribution area, addressing the main impacts for its conservation.
– Relevant progress in the knowledge of population sizes, population trends,
productivity, stress levels, distribution and connectivity among Kentish Plovers
in the transboundary area, thus allowing the optimization of management and
conservation guidelines.