Upper Rock Nature Reserve: A Management and Action Plan

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the site’s potential importance to the maintenance of our lesser kestrel colony, it would be wise
to include this area within the ‘Natura 2000’ network, under the EC Birds Directive (of which the
lesser kestrel is an ‘Annex 1’ species) and EC Habitats Directive, a system that is designed to
conserve globally threatened species such as the lesser kestrel, and to which Gibraltar, under
the UK, is committed. Not only this, but the site can be actively enhanced and restored back to
its original state, with invertebrate, reptile and amphibian reintroductions (the spiny-footed lizard
Acanthodactylus erythrurus, and western spadefoot toad Pelobates cultripes, were once found
in this area), This would undoubtedly improve the site immensely for the lesser kestrels. Being
an ‘Annex 1’ species, the Government of Gibraltar is required to participate actively in lesser
kestrel conservation efforts.
7) An action plan should be drawn up for the conservation of lesser kestrels on the Rock, taking
all of the above points into consideration. This is currently being prepared.
8) Regular clearing of the firebreaks should be carried out outside of the Barbary partridge’s
breeding season. This would ensure that partridges are not disturbed whilst they are breeding.
It would also ensure that enough habitat is available to maintain a healthy population of Barbary
partridges.
9) Stray cats provide a serious threat to much of the Upper Rock’s fauna, not just birds. A
serious attempt should be made to eradicate this pest species from within the Nature Reserve.
10) Deliberate release of this and any other animal and the feeding of the same should be
made illegal, and the law enforced.
11) The establishment of chicken coops within the Upper Rock should be prohibited and the
introduction and/or rearing of any wild animal or plant even in residential areas should be allowed
only through the express permission of the Board of Management after consultation with the
Scientific Authority.
12) The regeneration of the east side sand slopes means that a reintroduction programme
for the black wheatear could prove successful, and is recommended, as the highly sedentary
nature of this species makes natural recolonisation unlikely. This should extend to the cliffs of
the Upper Rock and other suitable areas within the Nature Reserve, such as the area immediately
below Rock Gun.
13) A possible reintroduction of the western jackdaw could be looked into, as these could
possibly control the gull population in some areas with some success, given that gull eggs would
provide a major food-source. However, these birds formally bred at the site where the lesser
kestrels are to be found, and so any plans for reintroduction should be treated with caution, as
this species could compete with the lesser kestrels for nest sites, and the lesser kestrels could
also suffer from egg-theft as a result of the introduction. Should a reintroduction take place therefore
(albeit after careful consideration), it is recommended that this be carried out at a different
site to their former nesting site. A possibility for this could be the Moorish Castle, where, as well
as being away from the lesser kestrels, the jackdaws would have easy access to the nests of
those gulls that breed in the town area.
14) As well as tackling those species that are endangered at a European or global level, it is
important to point out that BirdLife International recommends that ‘absence of species from the
SPEC list or its allocation to a low European Threat Status does not automatically justify its exclusion
from national conservation action’ (Tucker, et al., 1994). It is therefore justifiably recommended
that measures be maintained to protect the whole of the Upper Rock’s breeding avifauna.
References
• Cortes, J.E., Finlayson, J.C., Mosquera, M.A. & Garcia, E.F.J. (1980) The Birds of Gibraltar. Gibraltar: Gibraltar Bookshop.
• Cortes, J.E. (1996) Windmill Hill Flats: a good view of migration across the Strait of Gibraltar. Almoriama, 15, 163-184.
• Gibraltar Gazette (1991) Nature Protection Ordinance, 1991 (L/N 11 of 1991).
• The Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GONHS) (1994) The Biodiversity Initiative: Gibraltar.
A Case for Maintaining Biodiversity. Gibraltar: GONHS.
• Heath, F. & Evans, M.I. eds. (2000) Important Bird Areas of Europe, Priority Sites for Conservation Vol. 2, Southern Europe.
Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International (BirdLife Conservation Series no. 8).
• Heredia, B., Rose, L. & Painter, M. (1996) Globally Threatened Birds in Europe – Action Plans.
Strasbourg, France: Council of Europe Publishing.
• Irby, L.H. (1895) The Ornithology of the Straits of Gibraltar, Second Edition. London, UK: Taylor& Francis.
• Moreau, R.E. (1961) Problems of Mediterranean-Saharan migration. Ibis, 103, 373-427, 580-623.
• Tucker, G.M. & Heath, M.F. (1994) Birds in Europe: their conservation status.
Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International (BirdLife Conservation Series no. 3).
Birds
Upper Rock Nature Reserve: A Management and Action Plan