Rediscover beauty in rarity
The LIFE Perdix project, Italian Grey Partridge Reintroduction in Italy, concluded in December 2025 after six years of work. It was launched in response to the urgent need to reverse the loss of this key component of Italy’s biodiversity.
Funded by the European Commission and supported by a strategic partnership—including ISPRA (project coordinator), Legambiente, Arma dei Carabinieri, Federcaccia, Parco Regionale del Delta del Po Emilia-Romagna, and Fédération Nationale des Chasseurs—the project aimed to reintroduce the species into the Valle del Mezzano Special Protection Area (SPA), in the Po Delta. This protected area, covering approximately 17,000 hectares, supported a significant population of Grey Partridges during the 1980s and has the potential to become suitable habitat for the species once again through habitat restoration measures and the removal of the main threats to its survival.
Project Outcomes
Thanks to a rigorous scientific and technical approach led by ISPRA, the project carried out a number of key activities, including:
- Genetic selection: Through comprehensive biomolecular screening comparing birds from selected breeding facilities with museum specimens, breeders genetically attributable to the historical Italian subspecies were identified and selected.
- Captive breeding: At the conservation breeding centre in Bieri, managed by the Carabinieri Command for Forest, Environmental and Agri-food Protection Units, individuals were genetically selected and breeding pairs were established to ensure the highest possible genetic diversity in their offspring.
- Reintroduction: Thousands of birds were released into the Valle del Mezzano through a network of 18 pre-release acclimatisation enclosures distributed across the valley.
- Establishment of a self-sustaining population: Field monitoring confirmed the hatching of the first wild broods and the establishment of a viable, reproducing population