We are FCC - Nº18

Its lagoons have achieved such a natural richness that they have turned El Porcal into an authentic environmental refuge, property of the Community of Madrid. Created artificially, the lagoons have been prepared to be colonized naturally, and for this it has been necessary to study the use of the water used in the gravel pit, the lay of the land, the direction and speed of the wind, and the repopulation with native trees. Conservation and landscape restoration of the estate During the winter months, migratory birds concentrate in the lagoons, more than 100,000 of which are gulls from Northern Europe. Every year, thanks to the banding work, birds banded in Poland, Russia, Belgium, Luxembourg, Holland and many other countries are collected. Also during the winter, more than 400 cormorants and thousands of aquatic birds stay here. The immense reed bed of the “Las Gar- zas” lagoon sits on the old mud deposit, and today constitutes the largest breeding colony of the purple heron, a species ca- talogued as endangered in the Communi- ty of Madrid. In the sludge there are also storks and grey herons, which feed on small insects that live there. A space for the reserve of migratory birds cement B U S I N E S S 20 B U S I N E S S