Long-term biological and economic impacts of various protection strategies for the Montagu's harrier

    Many species that live in anthropic environments need conservation programs. These are sometimes designed based on intuitive ideas or short-term results, while evaluation of long-term effects or economic sustainability is less common. The current conservation program for the Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus) in Lleida, Catalonia, aims to protect the nests from the destruction caused by the cereal harvest by delaying the mowing of the plots where these nests are located; farmers are financially compensated for such actions. The economic costs of this program have increased exponentially over time, due to the increase in the number of pairs (as a result of said conservation program), as well as the increasingly frequent use of crops such as alfalfa or irrigated cereal, whose mowing delay requires greater financial compensation. This cost may currently compromise the sustainability of the conservation program, which could have consequences on the eaglet population. In this paper we use population viability models (PVA), coupled with cost-effectiveness analyses, to identify conservation management scenarios that minimize the risk of this "conservation trap", or at least that minimize the cost to medium. term in that program. The results suggest that conservation programs based only on short-term results may not be the most appropriate, and show the relevance of having clear medium-term conservation objectives.

     

    ID219

     

    Bibliographic reference:

    Torres-Orozco, D. Stream, B., Pomarol, M. & Santangeli, A. 2016. From conservation traps to conservation solutions: lessons from intensively managed Montagu's harriers in Catalonia. Anim. Cons. (doi:10.1111/acv.12260)