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Good practice Imported

LIFE Ilhas Barreira — Predator Removal & Seabird Recovery on Ria Formosa's Barrier Islands (Portugal)

Portugal · Faro · See the Portugal profile

Evidence: Observational / pre–post Top 47% 47/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

EU LIFE programme (2019–2025, LIFE18 NAT/PT/000927) removed feral cats and invasive plants from Ria Formosa's barrier islands; Audouin's Gull nests rose from ~2,500 to over 7,000, and a rehab centre treated 7,562 seabirds, releasing 3,208.

~2,500 → 7,000+
Audouin's Gull nests (2019-2024)
1.6 hectares
Grey dune habitat cleared of invasive species
7,562
Seabirds treated at RIAS rehabilitation centre (2019-2024)
3,208
Seabirds released back to the wild (2019-2024)
6,807
Schoolchildren reached by environmental-education programme
LIFE Ilhas Barreira — Predator Removal & Seabird Recovery on Ria Formosa's Barrier Islands (Portugal)

Details

Maturity
Discontinued
Promoter
SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves) / ICNF / Animaris / RIAS–Aldeia / CCMAR-UAlg / CIMA-UAlg
Period
2019–2025
Region (NUTS)
PT15
Keywords
seabird conservation, invasive species control, wetland/dune restoration, public works PES

Context

The Ria Formosa lagoon's barrier islands (Culatra, Armona, Tavira, Cabanas, Deserta) and the Anção and Cacela peninsulas, in Portugal's Algarve, shelter Iberia's largest Audouin's Gull colony and important Little Tern nesting beaches, but predation by feral cats, invasive plants and human disturbance threatened breeding success.

Activities

From 2019 to 2025, the EU LIFE-funded project 'LIFE Ilhas Barreira' (LIFE18 NAT/PT/000927), coordinated by SPEA with ICNF, Animaris, RIAS/Aldeia, CCMAR-UAlg and CIMA-UAlg, and co-funded by Portugal's Fundo Ambiental, removed all feral cats from Ilha Deserta, cleared invasive Acacia, century plant and Hottentot fig from 1.6 hectares of grey dune habitat, fenced and signposted Little Tern nesting beaches, and modernised the RIAS wildlife-rehabilitation centre.

Results

Audouin's Gull nests rose from roughly 2,500 in 2019 to over 7,000 by 2024, with the colony naturally spreading from Deserta to Culatra, reducing the risk of a single-site catastrophe. Between 2019 and 2024 the RIAS centre treated 7,562 injured or oiled seabirds and released 3,208 back to the wild, and the project's environmental-education programme reached 6,807 schoolchildren across the Algarve.

Conclusions

The project concluded in 2025; sustaining predator-free status on a chain of low sandy barrier islands crossed daily by boat traffic and reshaped by storms will require ongoing biosecurity funding beyond the LIFE grant period, and public sources do not disclose the project's total budget.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k) — Total project budget not disclosed in public sources; co-funded by the EU LIFE programme and Portugal's Fundo Ambiental.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Six-year EU LIFE project, 2019-2025 (LIFE18 NAT/PT/000927), now concluded.
Staffing & skills
SPEA (project coordinator), ICNF, Animaris, RIAS/Aldeia wildlife-rehabilitation staff, CCMAR-UAlg and CIMA-UAlg researchers

Conditions for success

  • Six-institution partnership led by SPEA
  • Co-financing from Portugal's national Fundo Ambiental
  • Fenced and signposted nesting beaches to reduce human disturbance

Common failure modes

  • Predator-free status on low sandy islands crossed daily by boat traffic is vulnerable to reintroduction
  • Storm reshaping of barrier islands threatens habitat stability
  • No confirmed biosecurity funding beyond the 2025 LIFE grant end date

Where it fits

Governance type
EU LIFE co-funded multi-institution partnership
Scale
barrier-island chain and two peninsulas in the Ria Formosa lagoon
Income level
high-income (EU/Portugal)

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes LIFE Programme

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Data sources

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