The Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata) is one of our most valued species, catalogued in Catalonia as threatened and in Danger of Extinction. This eagle, with its majestic flight, currently raises serious concern in Gelida, where the Agroparc project of Ametller Origen completely overlaps with its main and most important hunting area (called Kernel 80%by experts).
Regardless of legal avenues, and even if no contentious process or precautionary measures were opened regarding this work, what the Administration should do is very clear: guarantee the survival of this species. The problem is that it is not doing so, and environmental reports demonstrate this unequivocally. This inaction was, precisely, the reason why a formal complaint was filed with the Regional Environmental Unit (URMA) of the Mossos d'Esquadra on 1 October 2025.
The Inescapable Pact: Create a New House Before Destroying the Old
From the outset, in the processing of the Agroparc, the environmental bodies of the Generalitat established strict requirements to develop the project: any action in this critical area was conditional on the implementation of a series of compensatory measures that had to be effectively and successfully executed befores tarting the works. This is the central obligation of the Administration: to ensure that the promoter complies with this fundamental premise.
The Strategic Environmental Declaration (SED) established that the main measure is the execution of a Pilot Plan. The purpose of this plan is simple: to expand favourable hunting habitats and compensate for the areas that will be lost due to the implementation of the Agroparc. To achieve this, it was necessary to:
- Improve the Habitat: Carry out actions in places like Can Font and Can Mata to favour the main prey of the eagle (rabbits, partridges), such as the creation of refuges, water points, and dovecotes.
- Compensate the Territory: Acquire or manage, through stewardship agreements, an equivalent area (around 25 hectares) in the Serra de l'Ordal (Zone XN2000) to transform it into high-quality hunting habitat.
The Fire Test that Conditions Everything
But the most important part, which the Administration is obliged to enforce, is the fire test: the project is conditional on continuous monitoring of the pair of eagles. It is essential to carry out radio tracking of the male of the booted eagle..
This "test" must indicate whether the compensatory measures are actually working and whether the eagles have learned to use the new spaces. The regulations are clear: until it has been verified with this new monitoring that the eagles can live without the affected area, no earth movements or opening of paths in the area can take place.
The Wildlife and Flora Service (WFS) should be supervising the implementation of this Pilot Plan and giving its technical approval in terms and results. This supervisory and validation function is of "vital importance" to ensure the survival of the species.
The Citizen's Complaint: 1st October at the URMA
The complaint submitted by the Ecologist Collective Bosc Verd to the URMA of the Mossos d’Esquadra on 1st October 2025 highlighted this administrative failure. The public urged the Administration to do its job: to apply environmental law and force the halt of the works due to non-compliance with the essential requirements for the development of the project..
The works had begun in August 2025, and after being halted, they were restarted on 18th September with preparations and large earth movements without even having started the implementation of the compensatory measures.These works, which include the opening of wide tracks, large earth movements and installations, are taking place within the main hunting area of the eagle (Kernel 50%).
In response to this complaint, the Rural Agents, who had been closely monitoring the works since their inception, requested a technical report from the Wildlife Service on the situation.
The Reality: Destruction Without Validation
Shortly after, on 3rd and 8th October, the Wildlife Service issued two extremely forceful reports:
- The works already carried out represent a "critical impact" on the pair of eagles, causing a direct loss of habitat and an increase in human disturbance.
- The promoter has not accredited or communicated any Pilot Plan formally, it has not initiated the radio tracking of the male, which is the key element for assessing the effectiveness of the measures.
- The SFF confirmed at the beginning of October that there is no evidence of the execution or functioning of any prior compensatory measures. Although some actions at Can Font (dovecote, water point, clearing) were initiated in the days leading up to the first report, following the start of earthworks, their success has not been proven through monitoring.
- This absence of compensations, along with the magnitude of the works, generates a "high risk of irreversible impact" on the viability of the pair.
For all these reasons, the Fauna and Flora Service concluded that the actions were "incompatible" with the conservation of the eagle in its current state and proposed to immediately halt any actionswithin the critical area.
The reports from the technicians confirmed all the aspects that the StopAgroprac platform has been alerting to from the very beginning, against the deliberate actions of the promoter based on a policy of fait accompli..
And yet, the works continue...
Even so, despite the clarity and definitiveness of the latest technical reports from the Fauna and Flora Service, nobody has stopped the works, which have continued at an outrageous pace during these weeks. The subsequent inspections by the Rural Agents confirm that despite the Wildlife Reports, and the confirmation of the non-compliance with the requirements established for the development of the project, the works continued in the days that followed.
In summary, the duty of the Administration is simple, but crucial: it must apply the brakes and say no. It must prioritise the protection of an endangered species over private construction interests, demanding the presentation, the implementation, the verification and validation of the success of the Pilot Plan before the entirety of its critical habitat is destroyed, which, should not be forgotten, could constitute an environmental crime, in accordance with what is established in article 334 of the penal code.. If it allows the project to continue without the necessary environmental proof, it is playing with the irreversible viability of one of the jewels of our fauna.