Visit to Grefa
From October 15th to 18th, members of the LIFE LANNER project team (Ente Monti Cimini, Regione Lazio, Provincia di Viterbo, IZS Lazio e Toscana, E-distribuzione, Ornis Italica, and Birdlife Malta) visited GREFA, the Wildlife Recovery Center in Madrid.
During this cultural exchange, we were guided through their facilities for the recovery of animals in distress and those intended for the captive breeding of endangered species, as part of important conservation projects, including those on Bonelli’s eagle and the black vulture. We then moved to some mountainous areas within the Community of Madrid, where GREFA has long been working to secure power lines to protect birds from electrocution, and where the aviaries for releases into the wild are also located.
During these days, we also shared our experience in breeding and releasing the lanner falcon, illustrating the methods we use, the difficulties we have encountered, and the results we are achieving, as well as other actions aimed at safeguarding this species, including genetic studies, reopening pastures through brush clearing, securing power lines, and more generally, anti-poaching and wildlife recovery activities.
We thank all the GREFA staff for this valuable opportunity, which was marked by a warm welcome, and we are certain that these days, immersed in a reality different from our own, full of sharing and mutual collaboration, have enriched both teams in the respective species they work with.
We will be happy to host the GREFA staff next year, to get to know our project more closely and to continue talking about wildlife and birds of prey!