Six years after its inception in September 2016, this December ends the Life Tritó Montseny, a project for the conservation of a unique species endemic to the Montseny, Calotriton arnoldi. To close the program, on Thursday December 1 in the Multipurpose Hall of Seva a conference is organized to review the objectives, actions and studies carried out by the team of scientists, experts and collaborators who have worked throughout this time. Access is free, with prior registration. In addition, on December 2, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., there is the possibility of visiting the new breeding center of the Barcelona Zoo.

The day of December 1 runs from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and access is open to everyone. The session begins with opening speeches by representatives of each of the entities involved. From 10.15 a.m. and for the rest of the morning, three large blocks of presentations are offered around the three main themes of the program. On the one hand, block 1 is dedicated to the knowledge and conservation status of in situ populations of the Montseny newt, with communications on the legal status of this amphibian, monitoring of populations, intensive monitoring during the years 2019-2021 of an eastern population, the diet of the newt and environmental DNA.

On the other hand, block 2 focuses on the knowledge and management of ex situ populations with presentations on breeding centers, new facilities, breeding protocol, pair management, biosecurity, and individual marking, etc. The captive breeding program of the Montseny newt and the results of the breeding centers as well as research applied to the conservation of the species and research will also be discussed. Another section is dedicated to the genetics of the Montseny newt with contributions on the genome, the strategic release plan and the preliminary results of the new populations created. The third block of the morning is dedicated to monitoring the habitat of the newt, with contributions on the geological characterization and hydrological characterization of the streams.

In the afternoon, it is time to address aspects related to communication, education and dissemination of the Life Tritó Montseny project, with a review of the dissemination made through news and social networks as well as everything related to the educational field (the traveling exhibition "My name is Calotriton and I only live in Montseny!", the audiovisuals, the program "El Montseny a l'escola", the Biosafety Manual, etc.) and the management of the Environmental Education Classroom of the Barcelona Zoo.

The last block of the day is dedicated to the management and improvement of the Montseny newt habitat, with contributions on territorial and administrative planning for conservation (custody agreements, supervised management, protection plan...). The Manual of good practices and the results of the management of water resources and recovery of ecological flows are also discussed. A round table and debate close the day.

 

Six years of actions for the conservation of the Montseny newt and its habitat

The European Life Tritó Montseny project began in September 2016 and had to end in December 2020, once the objectives set for a total of 49 actions planned to solve the main threats to the species and ensure conservation have been achieved. Once this date was reached, a two-year extension period was granted for 25 actions that had not been possible to achieve.

During these years, a large number of actions linked to research and dissemination have been developed, as well as interventions in the territory to, for example, guarantee river connectivity, restore riverbank habitats or ensure the flow of torrents.

Amphibians are one of the most endangered species and their presence is a basic environmental indicator to know the quality of the water and the natural environment of these territories. Thus, the work done all these years has shown that mainly due to the effect of the hydrology of the area and climate change the situation of this amphibian remains in critical danger of extinction, although its population is stable.