Castilla-La Mancha declares the Calandra lark endangered

The Governing Council of Castilla-La Mancha approved Decree 57/2026, of September 29, which declares the Ricotí lark (Chersophilus duponti) as endangered, approves its recovery plan, and declares critical areas for its survival as sensitive zones. The regulation is published in the Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha number 194, of October 8, 2026, with the official reference 2026/7201.

The text, signed by President Emiliano García-Page Sánchez and the Councilor for Sustainable Development, Mª Mercedes Gómez Rodríguez, is structured into six articles, three additional provisions, five final provisions, and an annex containing the plan and the delimitation of critical areas through SIGPAC parcels. It will enter into force twenty days after its publication, on October 28, 2026.

The Ricotí lark had been listed as vulnerable in the Regional Catalog of Threatened Species since Decree 33/1998, of May 5, and was included in the “endangered” category of the Spanish Catalog by Order TED/339/2023, of March 30. Law 42/2007 and Law 9/1999, of May 26, on Nature Conservation, mandate the drafting of a recovery plan and the designation of critical areas. The plan is supported by the LIFE Connect Ricotí project (LIFE20 NAT/ES/000133).

A population of 544 males and a decline of 19.65%

The latest estimates place the regional population at 544 territorial males, equivalent to between 330 and 430 pairs. By province:

Guadalajara: 487 males (91.2% of the regional total).
Cuenca: 54 males (8.2%).
Albacete: 3 males (0.6%), in Hoya Gonzalo.
Toledo and Ciudad Real: species extinct.

Castilla-La Mancha hosts the third largest population in Spain (19.3% of the national total), estimated at 3,116 males, 4.6% fewer than the 3,267 from the II National Census. The regional decline since that census is 19.65%, with an annual drop of 1.65%. More than 26,000 hectares of potential habitat have been inventoried.

Eleven critical subpopulations in Guadalajara and Cuenca

Of the 21 non-extinct subpopulations, the plan selects 11 as critical, integrated into five populations and containing nearly 80% of the regional males. The critical areas declared as sensitive zones are:

Guadalajara: Miedes-Atienza, Sigüenza Oeste, Torresaviñán, Anguita, Esplegares, Hinojosa-Embid, Río Gallo, and Castilnuevo.
Cuenca: Carboneras de Guadazaón, Valeria, and Saelices.

Non-critical subpopulations are considered areas of importance: Hoya Gonzalo (Albacete); Zafra de Záncara, Moya Norte, Moya Sur, and Cardenete (Cuenca); and Hiendelaencina, Sigüenza Este, Maranchón, Hortezuela de Océn, and Cueva de la Hoz (Guadalajara).

Prohibitions, authorizations, and aid

The plan classifies uses and activities into three categories:

Compatible: agriculture and livestock farming under current conditions, beekeeping, hunting and fishing, and conservation actions promoted by the environmental Administration.
Incompatible and prohibited: reforestation—including truffle-producing species—, breaking of scrubland, grasslands and wasteland, new mining, industrial or energy operations, new overhead power lines, and the opening or expansion of roads, infrastructure, forest tracks or paths that result in habitat loss.
Authorizable: all others, which will require prior environmental authorization.

In critical areas, the activity evaluation regime of articles 56, 57, and 59 of Law 9/1999 will be applied. The Regional Ministry may grant aid and sign agreements with owners, tenants, hunting ground holders, and conservation entities, and will promote extensive sheep farming. The regulation will not apply to the activities of the Army at the Chinchilla Training Center (Cenad).

Seven-year objectives

The plan sets as goals to increase territories by 10% in seven years, manage 50% of the critical areas within that period, annually census at least ten witness localities, and review the plan after seven years. It also provides for the translocation of specimens, captive breeding, and the revision of the Natura 2000 Network management plans.

The declaration raises the protection level of one of the rarest birds on the peninsula and, from the end of October, conditions land use and activities in the steppes of Guadalajara and Cuenca, with new authorization obligations for energy, mining, or infrastructure projects and with aid for extensive grazing.

Source: Official Gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, no. 194, of October 8, 2026, section I, page 34622 (official reference: 2026/7201).