The Government approved the new Plan of Action for the Conservation of the Iberian Lynx in Portugal (PACLIP 2026-2030), through an order published this Wednesday, October 21, in Diário da República. The plan reinforces the measures to protect the species, to recover habitats, and to expand the population on national soil, announced by the Office of the Minister for the Environment and Energy in a press release.
According to the same source, the approval comes as, in Yerevan, Armenia, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (COP17) has been underway since Monday. Portugal thus marks its participation in this international conference with a concrete investment measure in nature conservation, demonstrating that it is possible to turn biodiversity protection commitments into tangible results on the ground.
The new plan aims to consolidate one of the most important success stories in nature conservation in Portugal. After having disappeared from the wild in national territory, the Iberian lynx has returned and its population reached 394 individuals in 2025, the result of a sustained conservation effort, habitat restoration, scientific knowledge, and cooperation between Portugal and Spain.
In 2024, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) changed the species’ classification from “Endangered” to “Vulnerable,” recognizing the progress achieved over the past years. Despite this positive development, consolidating the population requires the continuation of protection measures and the reduction of the factors that still threaten its survival.
“The recovery of the Iberian lynx is one of the best examples that it is possible to reverse biodiversity loss. A species that disappeared from our territory is today recovering thanks to scientific knowledge, to cooperation, and to the continuity of investment. We want to consolidate this success and demonstrate that the same path can be followed in the recovery of other ecosystems and endangered species,” says the Minister for the Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho.
Strengthening conservation and creating conditions for the expansion of the species
The PACLIP 2026-2030 establishes a new phase in Iberian lynx conservation, focused on consolidating existing populations, improving and expanding favorable habitats, and creating conditions for the species to continue recovering in national territory.
Among the main measures planned are the strengthening of monitoring, the reduction of mortality factors, notably road collisions, the recovery of populations of the European rabbit, the lynx’s main prey, and the improvement of ecological connectivity between territories, allowing the natural movement and expansion of the species.
The plan covers the entire continental territory, with particular emphasis on the areas where the national population occurs, namely the Lower Alentejo and the Algarve, and in regions with potential for the species’ expansion, including areas with historic occurrences such as the Serra da Malcata.
Its implementation will be coordinated by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), in coordination with scientific entities, environmental organizations, rural landowners, and representatives of the agricultural and hunting sectors, reinforcing the cooperation necessary for the conservation of the species.
New monitoring and compensation mechanisms for damages
One of the novelties of the order is the requirement that the ICNF present, by 31 December 2026, a proposal for a support and compensation regime for damages associated with the presence of the Iberian lynx, aiming to prevent conflicts with landowners, farmers, and livestock breeders and to promote greater acceptance of the species in the territories where it occurs.
The plan also provides for monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of the results, with semiannual reports to the supervising authority and an interim assessment in 2028, which will allow introducing potential adjustments to the measures envisaged.
The overall funding of five million euros until 2030 includes an annual allocation of 650 thousand euros from the Environmental Fund, dedicated to implementing the conservation measures foreseen in the plan, and 350 thousand euros per year for the ex situ conservation component, under the cooperation protocol signed between the ICNF and Águas do Algarve.
The publication in Diário da República of the new PACLIP (which you can view here), during COP17, translates Portugal’s commitment to a nature conservation policy based on investment, cooperation, and measurable results and demonstrates that biodiversity recovery is possible when there is continuity in protection measures and in valuing ecosystems.
