Objective
To guarantee the survival of the species, it is indispensable to restore its habitat and to eliminate or reduce the factors threatening it, namely damaging activities in the forestry sector and the lack of available water. One of the principal measures consists of establishing a network of standing dead pines, with a density analogous to that of the natural pine groves. To address the problem of the availability of drinking water, a network of artificial automatic drinking places is going to be set up to ensure levels of supply and to compensate for the disappearance of natural drinking places. This is complemented with a campaign pointing out the need to preserve the Canary Islands pine groves and their associated flora and fauna, with a special emphasis on forest fires prevention.
The well-preserved pine groves remaining on the island of Tenerife harbour the great spotted woodpecker in the guise of a subspecies (Dendrocopos major canariensis) endemic to this island. These pine groves are located on the western side of the island, in the Corona Forestal nature park, which is a Special Protection Area and has been proposed as a site of Community interest to be included in the Natura 2000 network. These forests offer the great spotted woodpecker its optimum habitat, because it requires tree trunks with dry branches for nest-building. However, the forestry policies carried out in the past decade have altered the forest composition, which in turn had a negative impact on the woodpecker's conservation status, as the number of dead pine trees was reduced considerably. Other problems affecting the species' conservation are forest fires and the reduced availability of water as a result of excessive groundwater exploitation. The population is currently estimated at around one hundred pairs.
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
38001 S/C de Tenerife
Spain