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Laying the foundations for the future of the Iberian lynx: 20Lynx40

MITECO

This project reinforces the work to advance in the conservation of the Iberian lynx and will allow us to continue influencing the recovery of territories recently lost by the lynx, help define the conservation status to be achieved in the long term, as well as improve the monitoring of the species by optimising photo trapping techniques.

Line of action:

Terrestrial ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Execution date:

2021

Despite the recovery of the Iberian lynx in recent years, there is still a lot of work to be done to not reverse decades of progress with the species and to reach the Favourable Conservation Status (ECF) of the Iberian lynx. Precisely knowing when this ECF will be reached is one of the actions of the '20Lince40' project and that is based on a previous estimate by WWF where we calculated that it could be reached in 2040 with a total of 750 females.

In order to achieve this objective, it is also necessary to optimise lynx conservation actions and the '20Lince40' project addresses two of the main conservation and management actions of the species, monitoring and habitat improvements, completing and reinforcing other lynx conservation actions and projects already underway in other areas.


Lay the foundations for the long-term conservation of the species, providing tools to optimize its management, monitoring and planning.


  • Dissemination and communication of the project.
  • Definition of the Favourable Conservation Status (ECF) of the Iberian lynx and long-term conservation objectives for the species.
  • Improved monitoring system and information collection for all lynx populations. The lynx census has been carried out since 2000 by photo trapping, manually identifying each individual thanks to its unique fur pattern. To facilitate this identification and the sharing of information, it will be done from this web. Within the framework of '20Lince40', the necessary training will be provided so that this website is the common tool in all lynx populations, optimizing the monitoring of the species, thus achieving a great advance in species identification techniques and allowing the lessons learned to be applicable to the monitoring of other animals.
  • Maintenance of a rabbit and Iberian lynx monitoring system in 2 of its populations: Andújar and Sierra Morena Oriental.
  • Realization and optimization of the maintenance of favorable habitat conditions and food availability in historic populations. It focuses mainly on how to make rabbit promotion actions more durable and economical, such as the creation of feeding and shelter areas.

The following results are intended to be obtained with this project:

  • Definition of the ECF
  • Courses on photo-identification applications and photo-trapping analysis for the personnel who monitor the lynx in each of the lynx populations
  • Lynx and rabbit censuses carried out on at least 12 farms with an agreement with WWF, covering a total of 25,000 hectares.
  • Proposal for the optimization of maintenance of historical territories.
  • Increase of 50% in the density of rabbits in the enclosures on which action has been taken.

programa
linea de actuación

Laying the foundations for the future of the Iberian lynx: 20Lynx40