A win–win relationship looks as the only successful way to implement a sustainable and competitive model for crops and livestock in steppe areas of Castile–La Mancha. The LIFE project Estepas de La Mancha its aims to preserve the territory´s mosaic structure and their value as habitat for steppe birds without losing productivity. This project supports farmers though land stewardship agreements in the implementation of agri–environment measures that allow them to improve the profitability of their farms, to have access to Rural Development funds or to join any initiative of differentiated marketing, where the project coordinator, the environmental spanish NGO Fundación Global Nature, provides the technical support and works to find potential organic markets. Nowadays, a voluntary land stewardship network has been formed with more than 3.000 ha and more than 50 farmers where those that are not in organic production are reducing the amount of pesticides and mineral fertilisers and those farmers that are in organic production are working on improve the ecological infrastructures, something that will contribute not only to their crops but also with steppe birds habitat. Beyond these agri–environmental measures, in general, a big strategy to educate and sensitize the entire local population is running off, so that they assume that the conservation of these bird species and the traditional structure of the landscape benefit them in social and economic terms.