Volunteering to monitor power lines inspires musical creation

As part of the LIFE Powerlines4birds project, regular monitoring is carried out on the power lines identified as dangerous for birdlife. This monitoring takes place at four different times of the year and makes it possible to assess the impact and effectiveness of the mitigation measures applied to the power lines. This work has relied on the commitment and dedication of volunteers, whose cooperation has been fundamental to the success of this action. The work is arduous and in conditions that require some physical dexterity, as it requires covering kilometers of power lines in search of evidence (corpses, bones and/or feathers) that indicate the mortality of birds due to collision or electrocution on power lines.

The link between volunteers and the LIFE Powerlines4Birds project has already brought concrete results, such as raising awareness of the impact of power lines on birdlife and collecting essential data for the project. And although we didn't expect it, it has now given rise to a song inspired by the fieldwork in which volunteer Mili took part. Sensitized by the problem of power lines, Mili decided to create a song dedicated to the subject. The song Huesos y Plumas seeks to raise awareness in the community of the importance of protecting birds and mitigating the negative effects of power lines. We asked him to share with us some of his motivation and inspiration for creating this song and this is her testimony:

"Huesos y Plumas" (Bones and Feathers)
This came about as a result of an LPN volunteer project in which I took part. It involved walking under power lines in search of bones and feathers that showed that birds had been collided with or electrocuted. On these sad but hopeful walks, I felt the particular "walking" of which Henry David Thoreau spoke two centuries ago, and I managed to open "the windows of my eyes and ears", as if I had somehow recovered the instinct to feel the world in connection with it, letting myself be invaded by the fascination of observing a lynx footprint or the sound of a bird warning the rest of the "woodland orchestra" of our presence. Later, with the collaboration of the SPEA and its Bird Sanctuaries project, my colleague Rui Filipe and I wrote some verses about endangered species such as the cuckoo, the chimney swallow or the roof sparrow, as well as the giant problem of habitat loss, with the increase in exploited landscapes "with a tired face". The song is in Portuguese and Spanish, as La Barca is an Iberian musical project, made up of people from the Portuguese and Spanish Extremadura and inspired by the blessed nature of this Balsa de Pedra that welcomes us. This song is a continuation of the work of environmental communication through music that we started with La Barca's album "Verde mi Sangre, Rojo tus Hojas" (Mili Vizcaino and Rui Filipe).

On behalf of LPN, we would like to thank Mili, but also all the volunteers who have already been with us and those we are yet to meet. This project shows how collaborative work and art can contribute to environmental conservation, inspiring other initiatives and reinforcing the importance of community involvement in protecting biodiversity.

The LIFE PowerLines4Birds project is co-financed by the European Union's LIFE Program and aims to reduce the impact of power lines by electrocution and collision on the Iberian Peninsula for 7 priority bird species that are highly vulnerable to these threats. Partners in this project are the League for the Protection of Nature (LPN), the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA), QUERCUS - National Association for Nature Conservation, the Spanish Society of Ornithology (SEO/Birdlife) and E-Redes.