SEO/BirdLife (BirdLife in Spain) have purchased a 209 hectare reserve to protect the globally threatened Houbara Bustard Chlamydotis undulata on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.

The reserve consists of 209 hectareas of well-preserved steppe habitat. 16 Houbaras were counted in the winter 2004/05 census. Other interesting species recorded in the reserve are Black-bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis, Cream-coloured Courser Cursorius cursor, Eurasian Thick-knee Burhinus oedicnemus insularum (endemic race), Lesser Short-toed Lark Calandrella rufescens polatzeki (also endemic), Berthelott's Pipit Anthus berthelotii, Great Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis koenigi, Trumpeter Finch Bucanetes githagineus, Spectacled Warbler Sylvia conspicillata, and a single pair of Fuerteventura Chats Saxicola dacotiae.

The population of the endemic Canary Islands race of Houbara fuertaventurae was placed at 527 in the mid-1990s, with 18 on La Graciosa, 268 on Lanzarote and 241 on Fuerteventura. Numbers are thought to have declined subsequently, although there is evidence that they now on the rise again, particularly on Lanzarote.

The project is funded by the EU Life Programme and supported by Swarovski Optik

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BirdLife GAM Code V1