bearded vulture

Biodiversity

We care for the species that are the most threatened. Our biodiversity conservation projects include dissemination, monitoring and land management projects; population tracking and studies; and support for a variety of reintroduction initiatives.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity is an essential part of natural systems and the essential component in their value

Highlighted species

lynx

European lynx (Lynx lynx)

From 2000 to 2002, the Foundation conducted surveys in the Pyrenees to look for signs of the European lynx, which we were unable to prove. Likewise, since 2008 the Foundation has maintained a male and female European lynx in captivity at the MónNatura Pirineus wildlife centre, and in 2019 they had a cub, the first one born in the Catalan Pyrenees for over a century. These three felines will help us learn via a variety of educational activities.

bearded vulture

Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)

The bearded vulture is listed as an endangered species. The European bearded vulture populations are quite small, and the Pyrenees is the home to the largest population concentrations. The Foundation has partnered in a variety of actions, such as tracking the species throughout the entire Catalan Pyrenees and a supplementary feeding programme for nesting bearded vulture couples in Catalonia. At the Alinyà Mountain Nature Space, specifically in 2005, these efforts were rewarded with the formation of a new couple, which has been successfully breeding since then. At MónNatura Pirineus  there is a reproducing pair within the European breeding in captivity programme. 

Spanish toothcarp

Spanish toothcarp (Aphanius iberus)

The Spanish toothcarp is an endemic fish ion the Iberian Peninsula which is currently in danger of extinction. It is capable of colonising all kinds of continental waters, although it usually lives in brackish waters. Currently, the largest population of Spanish toothcarp in Catalonia is living in the Delta de l'Ebre. At MónNatura Delta de l'Ebre, the Foundation conserves and fosters a large colony of this species by conducting population density control measures and tasks to foster and protect their natural habitat.
 

Cinereous vulture

Cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus)

The Foundation participated in an ambitious project to reintroduce the cinereous vulture into the Pyrenees. This species is extremely biologically important as a good necrophagous bird of prey which helps eliminate potential hotspots of infection for other animals from the environment. The goal is to secure a viable population in the Pyrenees foothills (Alinyà - Boumort) which can serve as a bridge between the isolated populations in the southwest part of the Peninsula and the reintroduced population in the central massif of France. The project was coordinated by the Department of the Environment of the Government of Catalonia with the participation of GREFA and the TRENCA Association, in conjunction with Endesa, REE and the Lleida Provincial Council.

Bonelli's eagle

Bonelli's eagle (Hieraetus fasciatus)

Bonelli's eagle is a species in regression and is listed as endangered on the Iberian Peninsula, although it is also the home to its largest population in Europe. The population of Bonelli's eagles in Catalonia has been stable since 2001, in part thanks to all the actions promoted by the Foundation to protect them. In the Puigventós, Montserrat-Coll de Can Maçana, Bosc de Vilalta, Congost de Fraguerau and Port d’Arnes Nature Spaces, the Foundation has undertaken several restoration campaigns and has sown former crop fields in an effort to nurture the habitat of animals that are the prey of the Bonelli's eagle.
 

Saint James apple

Traditional agricultural varieties

The Foundation works to safeguard the domestic phytogenic resources of the traditional fruit tree and vegetable varieties, given the vast genetic erosion that all crops have undergone in general in recent years because of the countless changes introduced into farming processes. 

Wildlife refuges

Wildlife refuges

The Foundation has gotten the Government of Catalonia to declare spaces which are frequently hunted to the potential detriment of threatened wildlife populations as wildlife refuges. This legal status bans any kind of hunting, animal capture or introduction of allochthonous species within the boundaries of the refuge. However, on an exceptional basis, the Directorate General of the Environment can authorise specific hunting outings if justified. So far, the following spaces have been declared wildlife refuges: Sot del Fuster, Alt Segre, Mig de Dos Rius, Ter Vell, Congost de Fraguerau, Bosc de Vilalta, Port d’Arnes, Congost de Mont-rebei, Puigventós and Les Reserves de Sebes. 
 

2018 biodiversity indicators
2017 biodiversity indicators

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