Conservation strategy for steppe birds in Bardenas Reales (Navarra, Spain)

In Spain, steppe birds have suffered a decline linked to the loss of their habitat; for their survival they depend on wide cereal steppes with a diversity of uses (cereals, leguminous plants, fallow land, livestock) that provide food, shelter and nesting sites.

The Bardenas Reales of Navarra Community has more than 20% of the fallow land in the whole of Navarre, with steppe birds such as the Great Bustard, Little Bustard, Dupont’s Lark, Sandgrouse, Montagu's Harrier and Stone Curlew, among many others, being an important natural asset of the area.

Our goal is to improve the conservation status of these birds in the Bardenas Reales Community through an integrated management of the territory, based on its profitable and sustainable use.

We will seek synergies between agriculture and livestock farming in order to generate a competitive advantage for the territory, taking into account cultural, landscape, food quality and biodiversity values.

We will work in the field with farmers to implement production models that ensure the competitiveness and sustainability of farms, together with the care of nature. Recognising at all times the value that the local population brings to the management of the territory so that agricultural activities coexist with the populations of the target species.