LIFE Aegypius Return
About the project
Nearly 40 years after the extinction of the Cinereous Vulture in Portugal, the species naturally recolonised the country in 2010 when birds from nearby Spanish colonies began nesting there. Even though the number of breeding pairs have been increasing, the population and breeding colonies remained fragile, and the recolonisation process was too slow and limited.
The LIFE Aegypius Return project was launched in 2022 with the aim to consolidate and accelerate the return of the Cinereous Vulture in Portugal and Western Spain by improving its habitat and foraging conditions, minimising threats and developing national capacities. The project team will implement targeted conservation actions across ten Natura 2000 sites, along almost the entire Spanish-Portuguese border, to double the Cinereous Vulture breeding population in Portugal to at least 80 pairs in 5 colonies and downgrade the national status of the species from Critically Endangered to Endangered by 2027.
Project Title
Consolidating and expanding the Cinereous Vulture population in Portugal
Acronym
LIFE Aegypius return
Reference
LIFE21 NAT/NL/101074677
Project time frame
September 2022 – December 2027
Total project budget
€ 3,654,578.58
EU financial contribution
75%
Coordinating beneficiary
Associated beneficiaries
Funding
Local co-funder of Palombar
Local co-funder of Fundación Naturaleza y Hombre
Collaborators
