Over the days 19-20-21 September 2023, the final LIFE Egyptian vulture project conference was held in Matera. Organised by e-distribuzione S.p.A., the event provided an in-depth illustration of the actions and results of the project and, thanks to the participation of speakers from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Israel, Great Britain and Greece, a comprehensive panel on the status of the species, the threats to its conservation, and the most effective measures taken to safeguard it.
A number of presentations at the conference were dedicated to the threat posed by electrocution, encouraging a productive discussion on various related appearances such as current legislation, structural types of mitigation, and the selection of priority areas for intervention.
The conference made it possible to identify the lines of action that would need to be developed in Italy to attempt to guarantee a future for this species, currently in an extremely critical situation. Among other things, it became clear that poaching is an emergency both on land and in the stretch of sea between Italy and Tunisia.
On the afternoon of 20 September, many of the participants were able to visit an area of the Murgia Materana Park, in the Gravine di Matera ZSC/ZPS, where seven captive-born goats were released by ISPRA, with the backing of the CERM Association, Biodiversità sas and De Rerum Natura sas.
The days of the conference were concluded on 21 September with a visit to one of the project areas, the ZSC/ZPS Area delle Gravine, and a hike along a scenic path in the LIPU Gravina di Laterza Oasis. Thanks to the LIFE Egyptian vulture project in this Natura 2000 area, a historical nesting site for the Egyptian vulture and release site for many captive-born Egyptian vultures, a supplementary feeding station has been set up and extensive awareness-raising activities have been carried out for breeders, tour operators and the school population by LIPU with the coordination of the Apulia Region. A further 148 medium-voltage power line supports were isolated in the area by e-distribution.
The presentations from the conference will soon be available for download in PDF format in the Documents section of this website.
To view the 19/09/2023 event click here
To view the 20/09/2023 event click here
