La Red Natura 2000 y las rapaces agroesteparias: el cernícalo primilla en la ZEPA ES435 Área esteparia de la margen derecha del río Guadarrama

Abstract

Conservation biologists have questioned the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in conserving farmland birds. The Lesser Kestrel population in the SPA ES435 Área esteparia de la margen derecha del río Guadarrama and surrounding areas increased by 11.8% between 1997–1999 and 2019. However, the loss of nesting sites due to building collapse or restoration, the loss of foraging habitat, such as fallow land and field margins, due to agricultural intensification, and the spread of woody crops and solar photovoltaic power stations threaten this Lesser Kestrel population. Furthermore, SPA ES435 protects less than half of this Lesser Kestrel breeding population. It is necessary to enlarge SPAs to cover IBAs and encourage low-intensity farming (habitat quality compensates for habitat loss) within the Natura 2000 network in order to conserve the lesser kestrel and other farmland birds listed in Annex I of the Directive 2009/147/EC.