The LIFE Bats & Birds project aims to improve habitat and food availability for six endangered species. These include four bird species (the great gray shrike, the red-backed shrike, the little owl, and the Eurasian wryneck) and two bat species (the greater horseshoe bat and the Geoffroy's bat). All of these species depend on a landscape rich in structures and insects.
In recent decades, the landscape has been increasingly intensively exploited, and structures such as hedgerows, orchards and solitary trees have often disappeared. To improve conditions, the project will replant these structures and maintain them where they are in poor condition. Habitats will thus be enhanced and better connected, enabling species to move more easily from one habitat to another. Increased pesticide use and excessive fertilization are impoverishing the agricultural landscape; flowering plants and insects are disappearing from fields and meadows, and only a few species still find a home there. Meadows are also increasingly being converted to crops, leading to the disappearance of other habitats.
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