WRITTEN QUESTION E-1084/00

by Laura González Álvarez (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(7 April 2000)

Subject: Protection of the endangered capercaillie in Asturias

According to a report by José Ramón Obeso of the University of Oviedo, the capercaillie, an endangered species whose numbers have dwindled to several hundred in Asturias, León and Cantabria (Spain), could become extinct before the year 2030 because it is not covered by any special conservation and protection plans. The capercaillie population has fallen by 60 % in the past 15 years, with the number of limited sites it commonly inhabits having dropped from 335 to less than 220 over the same period.

The capercaillie's struggle to survive is compounded further by poaching, indiscriminate wild-boar hunts, road- and fence-building beside its sites and the lack of campaigns to alert local residents, hunters, skiers and tourists to the existence of natural habitats.

The capercaillie is not listed as a species which may be hunted in Spain in Annex II/2 of Council Directive 79/409/EEC(1) of 2 April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds, and thus poaching this species should constitute grounds for prosecution. However, the authorities appear reluctant to take action against the continued illegal hunting of this species.

The Spanish authorities previously notified the Commission of their intention to submit a report on the situation of the capercaillie at a meeting of the Ornis committee provided for under the Directive, consisting of representatives from the Member States, with a view to requesting priority funding for the species under the LIFE-Nature initiative.

Has that report been submitted to the Ornis committee? Will the Commission make the report available? Has the capercaillie been recognised as a funding priority under the LIFE-Nature initiative? Will the Commission work together with the Spanish authorities on the necessary research into the factors threatening the survival of the capercaillie and on measures to halt the decline in its numbers?

(1) OJ L 103, 25.4.1979, p. 1.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(31 May 2000)

In September 1998 the Spanish authorities submitted a technical report to the Commission entitled proposal to include the Cantabrian Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus cantabrius) in the list of priority species for LIFE. This formed the basis for discussions, which took place on the subject during the Ornis committee meeting of October 1998. As the Spanish Ministry for the Environment is author of this report, the Honourable Member is invited to address her request for access to it directly to them.

It was agreed during the Ornis meeting not to list these sub-species as a priority for LIFE funding. The priority list is exclusively determined with reference to the list in Annex I, which only refers to the species Tetrao urogallus.

However, it was also made clear during the meeting that this does not preclude the submission of a LIFE application for the conservation of these sub-species. If such an application met the necessary conditions for LIFE, including the requirement that site-based project areas are classified as special protection areas (SPAs), it would be seriously examined by the Commission. Unfortunately, it appears that the level of protection of the sub-species in SPAs is at present low.