Description
LIFE+ TEN project: species protection demonstration action - safeguarding populations of red-backed shrikes
The species
The Red-backed Shrike(Lanius collurio) is a characteristic "predatory" Passerine of Community interest, in decline throughout the European continent. In Trentino too, populations of this species, which was once considered very common, are showing a negative trend.
The problem
The causes of the decline are partly local and partly remote (changes in wintering habitats in Africa and climate change in general). The former include the progressive intensification of agriculture in Trentino, with the disappearance of hedges, bushes, isolated trees, wooden fences, meadows and arable land, indispensable elements in the shrike's habitat, and the use of pesticides, which reduces the availability of prey and can cause direct poisoning of the animals.
Objective of the action
To protect the environmental characteristics of an area of Val di Fiemme that hosts an important population of shrikes, by stimulating farm owners to adhere to the measures that the P.S.R. envisages for meadows and pastures, for hedges and dry stone walls and streams. The resulting landscape benefits should also stimulate the involvement of the tourism sector in protecting the area.
Expected results:
- Preservation of an important population of shrikes as part of the experimentation of integrated agricultural and tourism management policies for the area.
Documentation