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First Iberian lynxes released into wild in Algarve
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the wild, spread out across the Vale do Guadiana, Alentejo and Algarve regions. Nine Iberian lynxes were born in the Algarve in 2021, and the ICNF hopes numbers will increase. The institute attributes this success to several factors, namely the “collaboration of landowners and managers of estates and hunting areas, the sustainable management of territory, the abundance of wild rabbits, the favourable attitude from locals regarding the presence of the animal and the connectivity of the lynx population in Vale do Guadiana with other populations in Spain,” which ICNF describes as “fundamental to increasing genetic variability.”
Castro Marim unveils strategy for water conservation
astro Marim Council has announced a series of investments to reduce water waste in the borough. The local authority is installing telemetry equipment to control how much water is used at municipal green areas, it announced in a statement to the press. In other words, a total of 125 irrigation controllers and five antennas/outdoor stations for communication are being installed at approximately 70 green spaces in Altura and Castro Marim. The council says around €250,000 is being spent in hopes that water resources are managed much more efficiently and effectively, identifying real water losses and even cases
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Lynxes started being released into the wild in Portugal in 2014. The Vale do Guadiana region – which encompasses the boroughs of Mértola, Serpa and other areas – was selected as part of the LIFE Iberlince project and has seen the lynx population expand naturally to other boroughs such as Alcoutim, Castro Verde and Beja. ICNF adds that the reintroduction of the species is a “medium to long term programme, which aims to establish a viable population and maintain genetic flux with other lynx populations,” providing the species with “favourable” conditions to reproduce.
of water meter tampering. The council is also creating ‘Zonas de Medição e Controlo’ (Measurement and Control Areas) in the municipal water supply systems for human consumption to “protect and improve the management of water resources in the borough”. “We are working to make the borough more sustainable, resilient and able to adapt to the consequences of climate change which we have been witnessing, especially in the Algarve, with the increase of average annual temperatures, longer periods of drought and rising sea level,” said deputy mayor Filomena Sintra.
www.eastalgarvemag.com
Source: Algarveresident.com
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wo Iberian lynxes were released into the wild in the Algarve for the first time on Thursday afternoon, 24th February. ‘Sismo’ and ‘Senegal’ (male and female) were born at the El Acebuche reproduction centre in Andalusia, Spain, and were set free in the eastern Algarve municipality of Alcoutim, the Portuguese Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF) announced. This brings the Iberian lynx number living in the wild in the Algarve to 22, the institute added. The reintroduction of this endangered species into the wild started seven years ago. Around 200 are now living in
