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Adopting conservation measures for threatened fauna in urban environments, such as La Mata beach, represents an important challenge that has had its fruits in previous years.
25.03.2024
The Councilor for the Environment and Beaches, Antonio Vidal, reports that, as in previous years, the Torrevieja City Council has launched its campaign to protect the Kentish Plover ( Charadrius alexandrinus ), one of the most endangered bird species in the country and whose nesting populations experience a successive decline year after year. In Torrevieja they breed mainly in the Natural Park of the La Mata and Torrevieja lagoons, but a few pairs also choose the dune system of the Municipal Natural Park “Molino del Agua”, located on La Mata beach, the most important in the city. .
The main threat to the establishment of nests in said dune system is the presence of loose dogs and the crowding of people. For this reason, every year a fence made of wood and rope is established to free up a strip of beach for the sandy plovers, allowing use of the rest of the beach. But even so, if there are loose dogs running along the beach or crossing the fence, the birds do not manage to install their nests.
Adopting conservation measures for threatened fauna in urban environments, such as La Mata beach, represents an important challenge that has borne fruit in previous years. However, little can be done without citizen collaboration: users of La Mata beach in its central area must avoid invading the fenced areas and reduce the presence of dogs, which, if carried, must always be tied and travel as much as possible. as close as possible to the shore.
The experience accumulated by the Torrevieja City Council in the practical management of nesting events of the Kentish Plover on the coast of its municipality, has allowed the adoption of procedures and strategies that, once their effectiveness has been proven, could be used in other stretches of the coast. of the Valencian Community with similar characteristics.
Such actions are part of the usual and close collaboration between the Torrevieja City Council, the Department of Environment, Water, Infrastructure and Territory, and the Provincial Coastal Service in Alicante. In monitoring any nests that may be established in the “Molino del Agua” PNM, the local project “Korlitejo Kento” and other collaborating citizens also participate.