Barbary conservation project gets another boost

As part of a re-population programme another 50 Barbary Partridges have been released in selected areas of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve.

The birds have been bred in a purpose built breeding and release facility, which is proving to be extremely effective as shown by an ongoing monitoring programme.

Minister for the Environment Dr John Cortes said: "This is a success story in so many ways. It shows the benefits of the Department working together with the expertise at GONHS. Most important is the success of the programme which has brought our Barbary partridges back from the brink of extinction locally.”

The aim of the programme, a joint project between the Department of the Environment and Climate Change (DECC) and the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GONHS), is to safeguard the species locally.

The Barbary Partridge has long been one of Gibraltar's emblematic bird species whose numbers decreased over the past two decades.

The local population is now recovering steadily and even showing signs of inhabiting new habitats within and outside the reserve network.

The re-population programme forms part of the Gibraltar Nature Reserve Management Plan which also includes the re-introduction of other species known to previously inhabit the nature reserve.