PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Please be aware this project has been financed by instalments. That is the reason why you may find the same project in different 'submission years'. With each instalment the duration, the content and the budget of the projects were usually amended. The starting date remains only the same. This project is part of a multibeneficiaries project. That is the reason why summaries are the same for each sub-project. Until recently a remote and inaccessible area, the Pyrenees are one of the last refuges in Europe for some of our most spectacular and endangered mammals and birds, in particular the brown bear, the Pyrenean Spanish ibex and the bearded vulture. Even in the Pyrenees, all three have suffered dramatic losses as a result of direct impacts from hunting and poaching or through more diffuse human pressure on their habitat (the latest example being the planned construction of a motorway along the Vallée d'Aspe crossing the habitat of the last brown bears in the Pyrenees, which led to bitter confrontations both on-site and through the political and judicial channels). The bear population fell from 20-30 in 1984 to 9-11 today, while the 10-12 ibex left have not bred since 1987. At 70 pairs, the plight of the bearded vulture is only marginally better. This alarming situation can only be addressed by immediate concerted action on both sides of the border. In this LIFE project, the French and Spanish authorities are collaborating on a package of sub-projects covering nearly 4 000 km² to conserve the habitats of these three key species and to pull their populations back from the brink of extinction. These sub-projects will thus seek the application of less damaging forms of forestry and stock raising and other habitat-linked measures, while on the species level they include, for the ibex, captive breeding and re-introduction to the wild, for the bear, preparation of new habitats and feeding sites and for the bearded vulture, increasing the availability of prey. Scientific research and monitoring of the species and information and awareness-raising towards land users and local authorities are permanent flanking actions.