From almost disappearing to being the most important colony of griffon vultures in Spain and Europe. Very briefly, this is the balance and success of 50 years of conservation actions that began with the creation of the Montejo Raptor Refuge. A project promoted in 1975 by Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente, vice president of WWF at that time, given the evidence that the population of these birds was reducing drastically and alarmingly.
To recover and conserve that population, a pioneering proposal was launched in which the local population of Montejo de la Sierra, the municipality of Madrid where it is located, was involved. Thus, the first custody agreement for the country’s territory was born. Which, in addition, is at the origin of the current Hoces del Río Riaza Natural Park.
A private conservation model by which the owners of the included spaces undertake to maintain them in adequate conditions for the conservation of the species to be protected. An agreement that remains active, in fact WWF and Montejo de la Vega City Council (Madrid) renewed it in 2021 and will be valid for 10 more years.
Habitat and human threats
The cliffs of the Riaza River are an ideal place for these birds, which, like any other species, “when they choose their habitat they do so because they consider it good for their reproduction and feeding. What they don’t know is that there may be human threats.
In this case and at that time, the most important thing was hunting. «As there was not much awareness, these scavenging birds were considered vermin, just like the Egyptian vultures. And the city council paid citizens to kill them,” explains Silvia Díaz, Species Program Technician at WWF Spain. However, “they are super important, because they are our cleaners of the field, preventing the spread of diseases and the growth of dangerous pathogens.”
The eradication of hunting was followed by awareness campaigns among the population “who began to see these animals as something good and positive, and to highly value the nature and biodiversity of their environment”, in addition to surveillance to prevent crimes, avoid inconvenience to colonies by visitors, that the power lines are in condition to avoid electrocutions, etc., both in this space and in the Hoces, which is where these birds explore in search of food.
From 147 to 681 couples
The evolution of the vulture colony has been very positive. If the first census of breeding pairs carried out in 1984 counted 147 pairs of griffon vultures, of which 100 chicks emerged; In 2024 the result was 681 pairs and 327 chickens.
On the other hand, the characteristics of the Egyptian vultures, a threatened species that has not yet recovered, present other difficulties for its conservation. «It is a migratory raptor, which comes and goes from Africa, trips in which it faces many dangers and many die. “It cannot be protected in all the range it occupies.” Its main threats are poisons, power lines and wind turbines. However, “we have created a specific supplemental feeding program for the Egyptian vulture to increase the success of breeding pairs.”
Science, outreach and camps
In addition to the recovery of these two species, in the Montejo Refuge “since we have a space with so much biodiversity, we take advantage of it to raise awareness and sensitize the population.” Also there, the first nature camps for children were born in the 70s, the legendary Club de los Lynces. In addition, the CSIC develops research projects, and the WWF others on the conservation of amphibians, inland fish and birds associated with agricultural systems. Like the one carried out with GREFA “to combat vole infestations with birds of prey and thus avoid the use of poisons in the countryside, which has been very successful and has been replicated in the towns in the area.”