Within the scope of Action C4.1 “Best practices for the conservation of terrestrial habitats”, the construction of cattle exclusion fences in the intervention area on Faial Island has begun. In total, 5.8 km of fence will be installed through external contracting.

During the initial survey of the area, areas in the vicinity were visited, which had already been fenced in 2011, where the restoration of the habitat could be seen without any additional intervention, despite the great resistance on the part of the people that utilize the area for grazing their cattle, who often vandalized the fence. It is therefore assumed that the effects of this fence evidenced in the vegetation were from 2016/2017 onwards. Therefore, it was decided that the exclusion of cattle will be sufficient to activate the natural recovery of the intervention area.

Photo: João Melo | Faial Nature Park