24 November 2025
Website of LIFE SOS Pygargus launched: the project that brings together Montagu’s harrier conservation and agriculture
Male Montagu’s harrier. Photo by Luís Cabral.
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The LIFE SOS Pygargus project website has just been launched. Explore the platform and learn more about this initiative that unites conservationists, farmers, scientists, and public and private entities in an unprecedented effort to save the Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus) from imminent extinction in the Iberian Peninsula. This project combines nature conservation with the promotion of agriculture to protect this key species for the balance of farmlands, generating benefits for farmers and rural communities.
The website is structured into five main sections: information about the project and its actions; the target species, the Montagu’s harrier; the rescue and protection campaign for this threatened migratory bird; the growing network of “friends of the Montagu’s harrier” being created to strengthen its conservation; and the cereal crops whose cultivation can ensure a promising future for the species by protecting biodiversity, maintaining landscape balance, and boosting national cereal production.
Available in three languages - Portuguese, Spanish, and English - the website also includes pages dedicated to project news, technical publications, reports, and other content, as well as events.
Follow us on social media
You can now also follow the project on Facebook and Instagram, where we regularly share information about what we do, where and how we work, awareness messages, and much more.
About the project
LIFE SOS Pygargus – Urgent conservation actions for Montagu’s harrier populations in Portugal and Spain is an Iberian project co-funded at 75% by the European Union’s LIFE Programme. It also receives co-funding from Viridia – Conservation in Action, Lightsource bp, the Portuguese Environmental Fund, and the Biodiversity Foundation of the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.
It is implemented by a consortium that includes Palombar – Nature and Rural Heritage Conservation (coordinating entity), BIOPOLIS-CIBIO Association, AEPGA – Association for the Study and Protection of Donkeys, ANPOC – National Association of Protein, Oilseed and Cereal Producers, CCDR-N – North Regional Coordination and Development Commission, EDIA – Alqueva Development and Infrastructure Company SA, ICNF – Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, INIAV – National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research, LPN – Nature Protection League, MC Shared Services SA, Modelo Continente Hipermercados SA, SPEA – Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds, UTAD – University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vita Nativa – Environmental Conservation, AMUS – Action for Wild World, the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Sustainable Development of the Regional Government of Extremadura, GREFA – Group for the Rehabilitation of Native Fauna and its Habitat, and the University of Murcia.
The LIFE SOS Pygargus project website has just been launched. Explore the platform and learn more about this initiative that unites conservationists, farmers, scientists, and public and private entities in an unprecedented effort to save the Montagu’s harrier (Circus pygargus) from imminent extinction in the Iberian Peninsula. This project combines nature conservation with the promotion of agriculture to protect this key species for the balance of farmlands, generating benefits for farmers and rural communities.
The website is structured into five main sections: information about the project and its actions; the target species, the Montagu’s harrier; the rescue and protection campaign for this threatened migratory bird; the growing network of “friends of the Montagu’s harrier” being created to strengthen its conservation; and the cereal crops whose cultivation can ensure a promising future for the species by protecting biodiversity, maintaining landscape balance, and boosting national cereal production.
We are testing cereal varieties whose cultivation is essential to ensure the long-term conservation of the Montagu’s harrier. Photo by Pedro Alves/Palombar.
Available in three languages - Portuguese, Spanish, and English - the website also includes pages dedicated to project news, technical publications, reports, and other content, as well as events.
Follow us on social media
You can now also follow the project on Facebook and Instagram, where we regularly share information about what we do, where and how we work, awareness messages, and much more.
About the project
LIFE SOS Pygargus – Urgent conservation actions for Montagu’s harrier populations in Portugal and Spain is an Iberian project co-funded at 75% by the European Union’s LIFE Programme. It also receives co-funding from Viridia – Conservation in Action, Lightsource bp, the Portuguese Environmental Fund, and the Biodiversity Foundation of the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.
It is implemented by a consortium that includes Palombar – Nature and Rural Heritage Conservation (coordinating entity), BIOPOLIS-CIBIO Association, AEPGA – Association for the Study and Protection of Donkeys, ANPOC – National Association of Protein, Oilseed and Cereal Producers, CCDR-N – North Regional Coordination and Development Commission, EDIA – Alqueva Development and Infrastructure Company SA, ICNF – Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests, INIAV – National Institute for Agricultural and Veterinary Research, LPN – Nature Protection League, MC Shared Services SA, Modelo Continente Hipermercados SA, SPEA – Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds, UTAD – University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vita Nativa – Environmental Conservation, AMUS – Action for Wild World, the Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Sustainable Development of the Regional Government of Extremadura, GREFA – Group for the Rehabilitation of Native Fauna and its Habitat, and the University of Murcia.