Cooperation between stakeholders to prevent bird strikes was the main goal of the first Workshop on wildlife management, organised by Barcelona-El Prat Airport. Experts in risk management met with managers of airport departments, air navigation, airlines, wildlife and natural sites, as well as representatives of municipalities and farmers.
Barcelona-El Prat Airport is leading the implementation of measures to reduce wildlife hazards. At the workshop, on- and off-airport measures that have been implemented were presented and discussed. Measures in the area surrounding the airport have been executed by external stakeholders that cooperate with the airport: landfill site managers, Barcelona Port Authority and the Delta del Llobregat Consortium.
Risk management is based on accurate monitoring of the conflict (evolution of strikes, species involved, etc.) and of bird populations in the airport surroundings. From this knowledge, adaptive management is implemented using actions that are included in the Wildlife risk management programme. The measures that are implemented are those with proven effectiveness, but Barcelona-El Prat Airport also conducts trials of innovative measures, to further advance in conflict prevention.
Minuartia, together with Xavier Ferrer from the University of Barcelona, has provided technical assistance for Barcelona-El Prat Airport since 2004. Minuartia also offers training on wildlife management in airports and has made different presentations on this topic at international conferences, such as those held in Mexico in 2014 (see here) and Norway in 2012 (see here).
