Background The ‘Red Book’ of Spanish Birds (‘Libro Rojo de las Aves de España’) highlights illegal use of poisons as a threat to endangered species protected by the Birds and Habitats Directives. Action is required to eliminate illegal use of poisons for predator control in Spain and so minimise such threats to the country’s Red List species. Objectives The main aim of the LIFE Nature VENENO NO project was to achieve a significant reduction in illegal poison incidents affecting protected species in Spain. Priority species targeted by the project include the Spanish imperial eagle, the Lammergeier vulture, the red kite and the Egyptian vulture (including the Canary Islands subspecies). All of these raptors are included in the annexes of the Birds and Habitats Directives. Overall project goals aimed to make important contributions to Spain’s ‘National Strategy against illegal use of poisoned bait in the environment’, approved by the National Commission for Nature Protection in 2004. Results The VENENO NO project developed effective and innovative methods and strategies for tackling wildlife poisoning in Spain, especially where endangered raptor species are at risk. It particularly targeted the use of poison baits, laid to kill predators such as wolves and bears in farming and livestock rearing areas. The project was structured into three strategic and complementary lines, matching the objectives of the ‘National Strategy against illegal use of poisoned baits in the environment’: prosecution of the crime, prevention and deterrence, and refining knowledge and information. The project created partnerships with all the key stakeholders, including the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Magrama), Regional Governments (CCAA), NGOs, hunting associations and agricultural sectors, the Environmental Prosecutor's Office, forest rangers, the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA), regional police forces, veterinarians and scientists. A number of major successes in the fight against illegal poisoning were achieved as a result of project actions. These included the involvement of all Spanish Regional Governments in the action for preparing plans and protocols against the use of poison. Thanks to the impetus of the project, six plans involving protocols or strategies were approved and put into place, in Aragón, Canarias, Castilla y León, Cataluña, Navarra and Valencia. The project facilitated the efforts of its NGO beneficiaries in judicial and administrative procedures in cases of wildlife poisoning. SEO/BirdLife and partner BVCF took part in 24 criminal court proceedings for illegal use of poison, with the ten convictions obtained serving as an example of the legal consequences resulting from the perpetration of this crime. The cases included one involving the deaths of six Iberian imperial eagle (Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha) and one where 140 birds of prey were killed (Tudela and Cintruénigo, Navarra). Some of the judgments handed down imposed prison terms of up to one year and four months, disqualification from the exercise of hunting, or compensation of up to €33 000. Further cases are still in progress. To help bring cases to court, the project created a Poison Investigation Unit (UNIVE) in Castilla-La Mancha. Two patrols were established, formed by three officers in each. UNIVE has participated in the resolution of several cases of poisoning, but probably its most important achievement has been to demonstrate to all the other Spanish regions what can be done to combat illegal poisoning. The project organised 19 specialised courses in the investigation of the illegal use of poison, which were attended by more than 500 officers of seven Spanish regions (Aragón, Cantabria, Canary Islands, Castilla-La Mancha, Cataluña, Murcia and the Basque country). These courses contributed to the improvement of the surveillance and detection of cases. The project supplied UNIVE and environmental officers from the participating regions with equipment for investigating the illegal use of poison, such as thermal (night vision) viewers, camera traps and binoculars, and sample-taking and analysing materials. All the experience accumulated on legal actions and the investigation of this crime was collected in the publication ‘Illegal use of poisoned baits. Legal analysis and investigation’, a practical guide for legal and enforcement professionals. Thanks to the project’s study on substances used in poison baits, the need for strengthening controls on the marketing and use of plant protection products and biocides was demonstrated. Within the framework of this action, the beneficiaries filed a complaint to the Environmental Prosecutor's Office to try to curb the illegal trade in these products. In addition, the actions developed in the Canary Islands promoted alternatives to the use of poison against predators which affect livestock and crops. The project initiated the Network of Volunteers against Poisoning, currently involving 336 members, and the SOS VENENO telephone line, which received more than 900 calls during the project lifetime. These enabled citizens to report cases of poisoning, in the countryside and in urban areas. The beneficiaries raising awareness and disseminating the project’s findings through the press, radio and television, with more than 900 pieces of news generated in different media. The project analysed all the episodes of poisoning occurring between 2005 and 2010 in Spain, and its report on this stimulated a review of the National Strategy against illegal use of poisoned baits in the environment. The project’s findings reached a global audience, through participation in various international forums and through its protocols being translated into English and distributed worldwide, and its procedural guides serve as the basis of the first international regulation on the poisoning of fauna. The project succeeded in putting the issue of the illegal use of poison much higher up the political agenda in Spain. All the Spanish Autonomous Communities have committed themselves to adopt or review action plans to fight against poisoning, for instance, while the Spanish Ministry of Environment has reconvened the Working Group of Eco-toxicology. The project is a reference for the fight against illegal poison use and, given the current socio-economic context, the prevention, investigation and prosecution of this crime would not have advanced to anything near this extent in Spain without LIFE funding. All the project’s results are transferable to other countries. Further information on the project can be found in the project's layman report and After-LIFE Conservation Plan (see "Read more" section).