Background Electrocution from overhead power cables has been found to be one of the most important threats to many endangered raptors, including Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata (Hieraaetus fasciatus)), which is a priority species for LIFE funding. For several years, the Regional Government of Murcia has been developing a programme to check the danger posed to raptors by such power lines in its SPA network. This LIFE project covered five areas in the Region of Murcia in south-eastern Spain: 1. Sierra de Mojantes; 2. Sierra de Espuña; 3. Monte el Valle y Sierras de Altaona y Escalona; 4. Sierra de la Muela y Cabo Tiñoso; and 5. Sierra del Gigante-Pericay, Lomas del Buitre-Río Lucena y Sierra de la Torrecilla. These areas have high ecological value concerning both the habitats and the species included in the Annexes of the Habitats and Birds Directives. The five areas were designated as SPAs under the European Birds Directive due to the presence of endangered raptors - Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata(Hieraaetus fasciatus)), the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), the eagle owl (Bubo bubo), the Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), the peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) and the short-toed eagle (Circaetus gallicus) – as well as the red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax). Objectives The aim of the Tendidos Electricos Murcia project was to implement the strategy devised by the Regional Government of Murcia for mitigating the risk to endangered birds from overhead power cables. It sought to implement the strategy over five SPAs of the Natura 2000 network in the region. The project specifically sought to modify and remodel the overhead cables presenting the highest risk to birds. To this end, it aimed to elaborate and sign co-operation agreements with the main electricity companies to implement the necessary changes. Furthermore, it hoped to devise and implement new regional legislation to ensure the integration of preventive measures in the design and installation of all new overhead cable infrastructure. To support implementation of these objectives, training courses for technicians and field staff of the regional authority in applying the new measures were foreseen, along with public awareness activities. The project hoped to demonstrate new experience in detecting environmental impact and SPA management for application elsewhere. Results The Tendidos Electricos Murcia project successfully contributed to the correction of 1 051 pylons that had been presenting a serious threat to raptors in five SPAs in the region of Murcia. The corrective measures applied to the overhead power infrastructure and the public-private co-operation involved have a clear innovative, demonstrative and exportable character. The project started with the drawing up of a new draft regional electric-technical law for the protection of birds. This was accompanied by a handbook providing practical guidance on implementing the necessary measures to reduce the threat to birds from overhead power cables. The handbook was designed to facilitate implementation of the regulation in anticipation of it being officially approved after the project’s end. Key to the project’s success was the signing of agreements with the major power company Iberdrola and 17 other private owners. These set in motion 14 separate sets of interventions, which modified a total of 724 dangerous pylons - 538 belonging to Iberdrola and 186 to private owners. Alongside and in co-operation, another 327 pylons were modified using additional private and public funding outside the scope of the LIFE project. Before-and-after monitoring data for six sub-areas – where 46% of pylons had been modified - found that residual mortality of birds after modification of the pylons fell from 1.87 to 0.56 carcasses per km per year – a 70% reduction. For raptors alone, the reduction in mortality was even higher at 87%. Encouragingly, no bird included in Annex I of the Birds Directive was killed by overhead power cables in the project area between the interventions and the end of the project. Training courses were held, separately targeting electricity technicians, environmental actors and nature-protection services as well as technical workshops on the correct installation of different isolating materials. More than a dozen meetings were held with different stakeholders and leaflets produced setting out the problems, solutions and project activities. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Communication Plan (see "Read more" section).