A review of the crane-agriculture conflict at Gallocanta Lake, Spain

Abstract

Eurasian Cranes (Grus grus) started staging at Gallocanta, NE Spain, in 1973, just after waterfowl hunting was prohibited in the lake. Since then, crane numbers increased in the area each year, due to the abundant food resources provided by intensive cereal farming. During the mid-1980s, farmers started claiming compensations for the damages caused by cranes in their fields. A study revealed that the overall damage was negligible but found that in a few fields close to roosting or drinking sites cranes consumed up to 30% of the planted cereal grain. The regional authorities were not able to manage the social alarm appropriately, and farmers started chasing the cranes from fields and roosting sites. These disturbances contributed to a reverse in the increasing crane population trend of the previous decade, and many cranes shifted northwards to winter at new staging areas in France, where they found abundant food in maize (corn [Zea mays]) stubble. Today, a delicate equilibrium has been reached with the provision of compensations through agri-environmental measures within a Rural Development Program funded by the European Union. However, the amount of compensations still continues under strong debate, and the conflict is far from being solved. Compensatory payments do not represent a sustainable solution to the problem because they lead to further social conflicts. To definitely solve them, additional management measures should be evaluated and implemented.