The November edition of National Geographic Portugal brings a great article on the Egyptian vultures and our efforts to protect it in the Douro canyon through the LIFE RUPIS project. For some weeks freelancer Hugo Marques roamed the Douro, always supported by the LIFE RUPIS project, and the end result appeared now – great photos of this vulture, and a good account of the work being done in the region in this magazine. You can find there the map with the movements of the 5 Egyptian vultures that we are tagging and following through this project (see below).
The LIFE RUPIS project aims to implement actions to strengthen the populations of the Egyptian vulture (and the bonelli´s eagle) at the trans-border Douro, by reducing the mortality of these birds and increasing their breeding success. The Egyptian vulture is the smallest vulture in Europe, and it is classified as “Endangered” – in Europe its populations have declined by 50% over the last 40 years.
The project includes equipping electric lines against electrocution, several actions that aim to minimize the threat of illegal poisoning, targeted management of over 1,000 hectares of important habitats for the species and also the creation of a network of supplementary feeding stations.
The project is implemented by the VCF and partners, including SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal), ATN and Palombar (regional conservation organisations in NE Portugal), the Junta de Castilla y Leon & the Fundación Patrimonio Natural de Castilla Y León, the Portuguese electricity distributor EDP-D, the Portuguese statutory conservation agency ICNF and the Portuguese environmental police force (GNR), and is co-funded by the MAVA Foundation.
You can download the article below (in Portuguese).
NationalGeographic Nov 17.pdf Adobe Acrobat Document 4.5 MB Download
