Ensuring that humans and Iberian lynxes live side by side in the most harmonious way possible must be at the heart of the new Action Plan for the Conservation of the Iberian Lynx in Portugal (PACLIP 2026-2030).
This is one of the main messages conveyed by the League for the Protection of Nature (LPN) in its position paper on the proposal for the new conservation strategy for that felid, whose public consultation ended on June 12.
Recognising that the Iberian lynx’s recovery “is one of the greatest successes in nature conservation worldwide,” having allowed “the extinction-threatened animal that had come to be the world’s most endangered felid” to be saved, the organization says that now it is necessary “to guarantee a durable coexistence” between the wild species and the human communities in the territories where it is already present or that it could recolonize.
For the LPN, it is essential to understand how human populations view the Iberian lynx and its return, monitoring the evolution of that perception and trying to anticipate possible conflicts “that are normal in these success stories,” the environmentalists say, but which nonetheless “constitute a priority to ensure the long-term success” of the lynx’s conservation.
“Understanding the expectations, concerns and experiences of local communities is today as important as monitoring the lynx population, ensuring habitat quality or recovering populations of the wild rabbit,” says Rúben Sousa de Oliveira, a member of the LPN’s national board.
“Coexistence is built through dialogue, trust, and the ability to anticipate challenges before they turn into conflicts,” he adds.
The position paper also warns of the importance of “preparing the territories” to which the Iberian lynx may expand in the coming years, so that the “conditions for a positive coexistence before the arrival of new individuals” are created.
The LPN argues that accumulated experience shows that this concern is today “as important” as ensuring adequate habitat or healthy populations of its main prey, the wild rabbit.
“In addition to economic impacts, it is important to recognise the social and emotional effects associated with the loss of companion animals or domestic birds due to the Iberian lynx’s territorial and predatory behaviour,” she emphasises.
For Rita Martins, Coordinator of the Department of Intervention and Environmental Policies at the LPN, “there are emerging challenges and ongoing lines of work with weak execution, such as the articulation of policy measures.”
She, the organization’s representative on the PACLIP Executive Committee, says that “we need conditions to operationalize this new Action Plan successfully, involving all stakeholders and effectively considering their relevant contributions.”
On addressing the threats to the lynx, the LPN says that it is necessary to go further in reducing the species’ mortality, “bringing Portugal closer to the Iberian-scale targets.” Among other aspects that “still need to be worked on,” the organization points to “the better coordination among public policies that influence Iberian lynx conservation” and “the inclusion of a clear estimate of the financial resources needed to turn the plan’s objectives into concrete actions.”
The Iberian lynx recovery “enters a new chapter now,” warns the LPN, “as decisive as the previous ones, to ensure that this remarkable recovery story can be brought to a successful conclusion in the next decade.”
