Since 2022, auma has managed for telecommunications infrastructure operators the administrative permits for removing bird nests from towers and sites across Spain: a recurring service reconciling network maintenance and safety with species protection.
Project overview
| Client | Telecommunications infrastructure operators (confidential) |
| Market | Utilities |
| Practice area | Biodiversity · Environment |
| Location | Spain (multiple autonomous regions) |
| Services | Technical reports and wildlife permit management |
| Period | 2022 – present |
The challenge
Nests on telecom towers can compromise structural safety and network operations, but their removal is strictly regulated:
- Protected species: many birds nesting on towers are protected under Law 42/2007 on natural heritage and biodiversity.
- 17 regional frameworks: each autonomous region has its own wildlife bodies, criteria and procedures.
- Time window: works must be scheduled outside the nesting and breeding season.
The auma solution
auma has standardised a procedure that makes a case-by-case process scalable:
- A technical report per site identifying the species, nest condition and justification for the action.
- Processing before the competent wildlife body of each region, followed through to resolution.
- Scheduling of works according to each species' biological calendar and each permit's conditions.
The result
- Service renewed year after year since 2022 across the client group's operators.
- Maintenance works executed with full legal cover and documentary traceability.
- A single technical contact point for all the regional authorities involved.
Biodiversity and the upkeep of critical infrastructure are not at odds: with proper permitting, every action happens at the time and in the manner wildlife law demands.
Frequently asked questions
Can a nest be removed from a tower or antenna?
Only with prior authorisation from the region's wildlife body when protected species are involved. Removing a nest without a permit can be a serious infringement of natural heritage law.
When can work be done on a nest?
Outside the species' nesting and breeding season, which varies by bird and territory. The permit sets the time window and the conditions, such as installing anti-nesting measures afterwards.
What must the permit application contain?
A technical report identifying the site and species, justifying the need for the action (structural safety, network operations), describing the method and proposing preventive and compensatory measures.
Managing infrastructure with protected wildlife?
We standardise the permitting so network maintenance and species protection move forward together.
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