Agosarats Project
- Project Context: The Mediterranean Tortoise (Testudo hermanni) is a protected species facing significant threats, leading to reintroduction programs aimed at bolstering populations and expanding their distribution. These tortoises are notoriously challenging to locate due to their excellent camouflage and tendency to hide in dry, rocky landscapes, making effective post-reintroduction monitoring and population census difficult through traditional visual surveys. Fundación Trenca’s “Agosarats” project was developed to leverage canine biodetection to overcome these monitoring challenges.
- Our Objective: Our team was specifically engaged by Fundación Trenca within their “Agosarats” project to enhance their internal capacity for canine biodetection. Our primary objective was to provide expert training and mentorship to their handlers and detection dogs, enabling them to effectively and non-invasively locate elusive Mediterranean Tortoises and their biological indicators for accurate population assessment and vital data collection.
- Methodology: Our unique contribution involved a direct, collaborative approach to capacity building and training:
- We worked intensively alongside Fundación Trenca’s handlers and their detection dogs, providing specialized, hands-on mentoring and guidance in advanced scent detection techniques tailored for the subtle cues of Mediterranean Tortoises.
- This collaborative training focused on refining methodologies for efficiently surveying challenging dry, rocky terrains, and ensuring the dogs could reliably indicate the presence of tortoises.
- Our involvement aimed to empower Fundación Trenca’s team with the necessary skills, and later a dog, to conduct highly precise and effective biodetection missions for conservation purposes.
- Outcome & Impact: Our direct involvement in training and mentoring significantly strengthened Fundación Trenca’s in-house capabilities for canine conservation within the “Agosarats” project. This enhanced their team’s ability to conduct efficient and non-invasive surveys, which is fundamental to the project’s objectives. By contributing to the development of a highly skilled local detection dog team, our work is directly supporting:
- The accurate location and monitoring of reintroduced Mediterranean Tortoise populations.
- The long-term data acquisition essential for assessing conservation interventions and ensuring the Mediterranean Tortoise’s recovery and thriving in Catalonia. Our collaboration has fostered sustainable local expertise, creating a lasting legacy for canine-assisted conservation within the region.
