Generalitat de Catalunya press room – The General Secretariat of Ecological Transition is working on the proposal to promote the reintroduction of the hermit ibis in Catalonia.
Since the 1990s, the hermit ibis has recovered its population in Europe to 2,000 specimens thanks to controlled breeding in zoos in Austria and Germany. The next step has been to promote the progressive release of these specimens and facilitate their migration to warmer areas.
Precisely, the organization Waldrappteam Conservation and Research , directed by the biologist Johannes Fritz and which has funds from the LIFE program of the European Union, heads an ambitious program of guiding this species assisted by humans during a journey of 2,800 kilometers to Cadiz , where a community of sedentary ibis lives.
Given the favorable situation of Catalonia, halfway between the origin and destination of the migratory journey of these birds, it becomes a great opportunity to reintroduce them to our territory, which is currently only a transit zone. This year’s flock, made up of 36 ibises guided by two ‘adoptive mothers’ who fly in ultralights, is resting in Ordis, in the Alt Empordà. The aim is for these specimens to learn the route and be able to do it again later.
The space proposed for the recovery of these birds is the Torre Ponsa estate, located in the Montgrí massif, and has the approval of Johannes Fritz, director of Waldrappteam Conservation and Research. Also, the ALIVE foundation, whose president is the biologist Bernat Garrigós, and the Amics dels Aiguamolls i del Patrimoni Natural de l’Empordà (AAPNE) have shown their interest in participating in this project promoted by the Generalitat de Catalonia
This is a type of bird that was considered extinct in the Mediterranean countries for more than 300 years and that, in recent decades, public-private initiatives have dedicated resources and efforts to recover it. The action is in the feasibility and suitability study phase of the Montgrí massif, the area proposed to deploy the project already in the spring of 2025.
