April XNUMX conference
On April 1, the conference "The fight against the illegal use of poison: everyone's commitment" will take place in Matera, organized in collaboration with the Park of the Murgia Materana, during which the results of the LIFE EGYPTIAN VULTURE Project, of which ISPRA is a partner, will be illustrated. The invitation to participate is addressed to operators and citizens. The conference will begin at 10.00 and will be held at the Murgia Materana Park Authority, Via Sette Dolori 10 in the Sasso Barisano. The LIFE Egyptian vulture project aims to promote the conservation of the Egyptian vulture, a small vulture which is considered threatened at European level and which in Italy is even the bird species at greatest risk of extinction.
The Egyptian vulture
Little known by most people, decidedly particular for its appearance and precious for its contribution as an environmental "scavenger", the Egyptian vulture has gradually disappeared from the regions of central-southern Italy in which it historically nested in order to survive with only about ten of pairs in some southern regions. The LIFE Egyptian vulture project (English name of the species) was one of the five LIFE Nature projects with an Italian lead presented in the call launched in 2016 which obtained co-financing from the European Commission.
The duration of the project
With a duration of five years (October 2017-September 2022) and a budget of €5.084.605, of which €3.813.146 financed by the European Union, the project will develop in Basilicata, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily, regions where the Egyptian vulture still nests or in which it passes during the migration to Africa, and in the islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote, in the Canary Archipelago (Spain), where there is a subspecies called "guirre", which also needs special attention because it is represented by a limited number of couples (about 60) (FIDC-ISPRA).