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Life Against Poison
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LIFE AGAINST POISON

The illegal use of poisoned baits is common practice in many rural areas of Europe and in the Mediterranean. This has a huge impact on biodiversity including birds of prey, especially scavengers such as the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), the Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus ), and threatened mammal species such as the brown bear (Ursus arctos), the wolf (Canis lupus) and the lynx in the Iberian peninsula (Lynx pardinus).

ARCTUROS was part of the European LIFE + programme "Innovative Actions to Combat Illegal Use of Poisoned Baits in Mediterranean Pilot Areas of the European Union."

The programme is implemented in eight pilot sites - four in Spain, two in Portugal and two in Greece: Antichasia - Meteora (implementation by ARCTUROS) and the mountains of Eastern Crete (Psiloritis, Asterousia & Dikti, being implemented by the University of Crete - NHMC). The main objective of the five-year programme is to establish a series of innovative actions and develop a more effective response to the use of poisoned baits. This will involve the creation and operation of three voluntary networks working against the illegal use of poisoned baits (the farmers network, the hunters and forestry network - supervising hunting areas, and the network of municipalities) in the pilot areas of the three countries (Spain, Portugal and Greece). These networks will be actively involved in addressing the threat and at the same time act as intermediaries between citizens and the competent authorities, effectively addressing this illegal practice and protecting biodiversity.

Other actions will be implemented under the programme to investigate the reasons/conditions that lead to the illegal use of poisoned baits, such as inadequate implementation of regulations, and the use of poison as retaliation.

ΠMore information about the programme and all the latest news you can find the blog http://lifeagainstpoison.wordpress.comand Facebook.