The Issue:

The bearded vulture, once extinct in the Alps, has been successfully reintroduced through decades of coordinated conservation work. However, this fragile population remains under significant threat due to the rapid growth of mountain tourism and outdoor recreation activities such as paragliding, skiing, and climbing. These high-impact sports often take place in or near sensitive nesting areas, disturbing breeding pairs and fragmenting the vultures’ alpine habitat. At the same time, threats like poisoning, collisions with infrastructure, and climate change continue to jeopardize the species' recovery. As one of Europe’s most emblematic scavengers and an indicator of mountain ecosystem health, the survival of the bearded vulture depends on continued habitat protection, coordinated conservation efforts, and stronger collaboration with the outdoor tourism community.

 Grant Award Use:

ATCF funding will support Asters-CEN74 in implementing key components of the bearded vulture action plan, with a focus on population monitoring, threat mitigation, and public awareness. Specifically, the grant will help fund in situ conservation actions such as monitoring nesting pairs, tagging and GPS-tracking released birds, and conducting genetic analyses to ensure population viability. It will also support efforts to reduce human-induced threats—such as promoting cable visibility to prevent collisions and working with tourism stakeholders to adjust recreational use near nesting sites. Importantly, the funding will help produce and distribute multilingual educational materials, signage, and digital content to inform hikers, climbers, and paragliders about how to minimize disturbance to these rare birds—creating a more informed and respectful tourism culture that can coexist with wildlife in the Alps.

 What Would a Successful Project Result In?

The success of this project is a viable population of bearded vultures widespread throughout economically thriving and environmentally sound European mountains.