THE FOUNDATION

The Black Vulture Conservation Foundation (BVCF) is a non-profit organisation that has been working to preserve the Black Vulture and other birds of prey throughout Europe since 1986. Its sphere of action is Mediterranean Europe and the Balkans. To date, it has carried out projects in several countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria and Greece.

In recent years, the Foundation has included eco-development initiatives in its work with a view to contributing to sustainable development and the eradication of poverty. The BVCF’s eco-development activities are concentrated mainly in rural areas in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia.

The BVCF began its work in Mallorca in the early 1980s, when the island´s Black Vulture population had been reduced to only 20 individuals. Thanks to the work of the BVCF’s intervention, the Mallorcan population now stands at 110 individuals and 14 reproductive pairs. In addition to the recovery of the Black Vulture in Mallorca, the BVCF has developed various other activities, including: programmes of  breeding in captivity; introduction of vultures from the Iberian peninsula into the wild in the Balkans; protection of the environment; environmental education; and organisation of activities involving European volunteers. Since 1997, another aspect of its work is the campaign against the illegal use of poison in the wild, which has recently been reinforced by the creation of the Antidote Programme European Secretariat. The BVCF is also responsible for the SOS POISON HOTLINE, a free telephone service whose purpose is to enable cases of poisoned fauna to be reported from all over Spain.

 

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