On Tuesday 15 of June, the Spanish Committee of the International Union for the Conservation for Conservation Nature (UICN) presented the manual “Buenas Prácticas para la conservación de la Naturaleza. Soluciones basadas en la naturaleza”. Twenty-nine members of the Spanish Committee of the IUCN, including the Barcelona Zoo (partner of the Life Tritó Montseny project), participated in the writing of the manual.

The manual describe 73 conservation projects, 45 of which are framed within the concept of The UICN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions (SbN). This standard is the result of the combined knowledge and views of more than 800 experts on how to make nature an effective partner in the fight against climate change and other major challenges of the 21st century.

In this context, Barcelona Zoo's contribution focuses on the two amphibian conservation projects through the "One Plan Approach" strategy: the ferreret (or Balearic toad) project with the Balearic government and the Life Tritó del Montseny (pages 106-109 of the manual).

Specifically, Barcelona Zoo's participation in the Life project has been based on two main actions:

1. The extension of the facilities dedicated to the reproduction of this species, a fact that has made it possible to triple, in four years, the population of newt kept ex situ and to participate in several reintroductions of the species into its natural habitat.
2. The construction of a new educational room open to the public, where visitors are informed about the newt and its threats, as well as about the fauna of the mountain streams of Montseny and the importance of its preservation.

Barcelona Zoo is committed to continuing both actions in the future.

 

Educational room at Barcelona Zoo dedicated to the Montseny newt. Photo: Iñaki Relanzón

 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is a membership Union composed of governmental organisations and civil society organisations. The IUCN draws on experience, resources and reach of its more than 1,400 member organisations and the contributions of more than18,000 experts. This diversity and extensive experience make IUCN the global authority on the state of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.