23% of the bird species regularly present in Spain have a high risk of extinction and 74% of the so-called Important Bird Conservation Areas show an unfavorable trend or state of conservation, according to the report The State Bird Conservation in Spain 2010 , carried out by SEO / BirdLife and presented yesterday in Cáceres.
The data reveals thatSpain, like the rest of the countries of the European Union,has not met the goal of halting biodiversity loss in 2010. This has happened due to a large number of circumstances, which can be summarized in a lack of compliance with current legislation and a considerable delay in the development and application of the different strategies and plans for the conservation of species and protected areas, according to the authors of the report.
Waterfowl and steppe have a worse time
Currently, the most threatened group of species are theacuatic birds. In fact, eight of the 16 taxa (species and subspecies of birds) classified as “Critically Endangered” are birds of this environment, most of them due to their very small populations and very strict habitat requirements. The state of conservation presented by thesteppe habitat species. 67% of them are in some category of threat.
Thesea birdsThey are also in a poor state of conservation. Although most of its colonies are protected, its trend is negative, mainly due to high adult mortality. Accidental catches in fishing gear and oil pollution are the main causes of this mortality.
Although the common birds of forest habitats show, in general, an apparent good state of conservation, also among them there are a good number of threatened species, such as thecapercaillie, themilan real, or somepaseriformesendemic forest of the Canary Islands that are cataloged “In Danger”.
