KBAs in Spain? It was about time!

Spain is one of the most biodiverse countries in the European Continent and host over half of all European species’ biodiversity, including a large number of national and regional endemisms. There are more than 4000 protected areas covering over 36% of the terrestrial and 12% of the marine surface. Additionally, 471 legacy KBA have been identified thanks to IBA (Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas) and AZE (Alliance for Zero Extinction) processes.

However, the knowledge and protection of biodiversity remain challenging. While some iconic and threatened species such as the Iberian Lynx or the Spanish Imperial Eagle have improved notably their conservation status in recent years, the situation of other vertebrates show slow but steady declines, and most of the invertebrates and plants species, including numerous micro-endemism known from very few localities, have not been formally assessed, but are suspected to be threatened and occur outside protected areas. On the other hand, of the 471 KBA, only 179 are known or expected to meet global criteria.

In 2023, the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation (IUCN-Med) and SEO/BirdLife considered critical to promote the identification of KBAs in the country, expanding the lessons learned, hand in hand with the main conservation and research organizations and institutions in the country. To this end, during 2023 these organizations convened numerous organizations at the national level for the preparation of the Terms of Reference of the KBA National Coordination Group. In December 2023, the IUCN-Med, with the financial support of Biodiversa+ through the GaP project, and with the technical support of SEO/BirdLife, convened 24 experts from nine institutions to the First Technical Workshop on Identification and Delimitation of KBAs, with the aim of building capacities at the national level, incentivize the development of pilot KBA identification, socialize the Terms of Reference of the KBA National Coordination Group, and identify the main activities and next steps to establish a KBA program in Spain. Octavio Infante, Reponsible of the Site Conservation Program at SEO/BirdLife, was elected as the NCG coordinator for the first period of two years. Five areas were identified as potential pilots exercises for the application of the KBA criteria, including the recently created Sierra de las Nieves National Park, a mountain range where the Endangered Spanish Fir (Abies pinsapo) maintains its largest population.

In March 2024 took place the first meeting of the Spanish KBA NCG, with the participation of eleven representatives, to continue developing the action plan to the KBA program in Spain. The Spanish KBA NCG is currently composed by 17 experts from 13 organizations (in alphabetical order): Do?ana Biological Station (EBD- CSIC), Iberian Society of Ichthyology (SIBIC), Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), IUCN SSC Spain Species Specialist Group (EsSSG), Society for the study and conservation of sharks, rays and their ecosystems (Catsharks), Spanish Biological Society for Plant Conservation (SEBICOP), Spanish Committee of the IUCN (CeUICN), Spanish Society for the Study and Conservation of Bats (SECEMU), Spanish Society of Entomology (AeE), Spanish Society of Ethology and Evolution Ecology (SEEEE), Spanish Society of Herpetology (AHE), Spanish Society of Ornithology (SEO/BirdLife) and WWF Espa?a. Catherine Numa (KBA Focal Point, based in Malaga), Diego Juffe Bignoli (SAC Co-chair, based in Galicia) and two independent experts are also part of the NCG.

The NCG is currently organized in five main thematic areas (governance, fundraising, technical/criteria, policy and lobbing and communication). While this news is prepared, a second meeting is being organized and the group is starting to work in the elaboration of detailed action plans for each thematic area. Amongst other activities, presentations on the KBA Standard are being promoted in different conservation workshops and conferences, including a short online training on the identification of KBA for arthropods in July, workshop organized by UICN-Med and the Entomological Spanish Society in the framework of the project “GaP: Guiding expansion of protection under the EU Biodiversity Strategy: Threatened species and novel methods for Key Biodiversity Area identification”.

An important piece of work now is the coordination with the entities involved in the update of biodiversity atlases and the preparation of national Red List, in a process funded by MITECO (Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Change) and coordinated by TRAGSATEC. Several of the GNC members are directly involved in these updates for their respective taxa or expertise; and actions are being coordinated with these organizations, including the Spanish Committee of the IUCN (CeUICN) and the Spain Species Specialist Group (EsSSG), to ensure the results of these projects will feed and integrate the KBA process in Spain. Finally, SEO/BirdLife is currently embarked in the IBA (Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas) update, a process in which detailed information for all bird species is being gathered, which will allow the KBA reassessment for birds in Spain.