Protected nesting for Kentish Plover

Because the Kentish Plover nests directly on the sand of the beach, and because of its size and dull colours it is a difficult bird to detect, it is very important not to cross the temporarily fenced area, and to try to keep as far awy as possible from it when walking or sunbathing.

in 2022, for the third consecutive year, the Kentish Plovers returned to nest successfully on the beach of La Mata, with a total of 3 pairs nesting, with a total number of 8 hatchlings that survived.

the department of the environment of the torrevieja town council has once again taken the protection measures already adopted in the last two years, to try to make the use of the beaches compatible with the nesting of the Kentish Plover (charadrius alexandrinus) in the Municipal natural Park “Molino del agua” (La Mata beach).

these measures are carried out in collaboration with the Wildlife Service of the regional Ministry of agriculture and the Provincial coastal Service.

in this way, workers from the department of the environment have established a new additional marking of more than 400 linear metres on the beach of La Mata, which will be removed once the main breeding period of the species has come to an end. due to the fact that the kentish plover nests directly on the sand, and that because of its size and dull colours it is a difficult bird to spot, it is very important not to cross the temporarily fenced off area, and even to try to separate as far as possible from it when walking or sunbathing. the department of the environment has once again stressed that one of the main threats to the kentish plover are unleashed dogs, so it appeals to all citizens, in the sense that, although they should not go with their pets to the stretch of beach that coincides with the Molino del agua, take their pets on a leash to prevent them from chasing the plovers in their games and may spoil a nest or harm the defenceless young. the beach cleaning service is also involved in this campaign to protect the kentish plover. the councillor for the environment and Beaches of the torrevieja town hall, antonio Vidal, reports that last year, and for the third consecutive year, the kentish plovers successfully returned to nest on the beach of La Mata in 2022, with a total of 3 pairs nesting on the dune front of the Paraje natural Municipal “Molino del agua”, located on the beach of La Mata in torrevieja, with a total of 8 hatchlings, which is great environmental news at local, regional and national level. the Kentish Plover is a small bird typical of coastal lagoons and beaches with dune systems, which is endangered due to the strong decline of its populations in recent decades. in the official species protection regulations of the department of the environment, it is catalogued as “vulnerable”, although the Spanish ornithological Society, in its latest edition of the red Book of Birds, raised the category of threat to “endangered”. the beach of La Mata, both because it is home to a protected area in its central section such as the Molino del agua, and because it has been awarded the blue flag, should have active biodiversity conservation programmes. www.torrevieja.es/chorlitejoPatinegro