Portugal's little bustard population down 90% since 2006

A fourth national census of the little bustard, coordinated by BIOPOLIS/CIBIO researchers, found just 1,736 males remaining in Portugal, a decline of roughly 90% since 2006. Seven environmental organisations, including SPEA and LPN, warn the species faces imminent extinction in the country. They blame the loss of extensive cereal farming, replaced by intensive crops and grazing, plus expanding rural power infrastructure. Cereal farmland has shrunk nearly 80% since the late 1980s. The groups are calling for an emergency interministerial plan covering breeding-area protection, agri-environmental measures, energy infrastructure planning and captive-breeding programmes.