PT025
Évora plains


Site description (2002 baseline):

Site location and context
Open agricultural land used for cereals (mainly wheat) and other crops in rotation such as melon, sunflower and beans. There is sparse evergreen woodland of oak Quercus ilex and cork oak Q. suber. Fallow land is used for grazing sheep and cattle.



Key biodiversity
The site supports good numbers of breeding birds of steppic habitats, and is important for wintering Grus grus. Besides of species in species list, 10 breeding pairs of Circus pygargus and some Burhinus oedicnemus are present.



Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The main threats are illegal hunting, Birds are disturbed by the increasing road-traffic. Current habitats, favourable for steppic birds, are maintained by the traditional farming system based on non-intensive cultivation of cereals, but the weakness of the rural economy might lead farmers to change land-uses.



Protected areas
National None International None




Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Évora plains (Portugal). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/évora-plains-iba-portugal on 22/12/2024.