The Life-Nature and Biodiversity Project ‘Creating a genetically and demographically functional metapopulation of the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus)’ (LIFE19NAT/ES/001055) ‘LYNXCONNECT’ will present the LIFE LYNXCONNECT Awards on 22nd November in Toledo.

These awards recognise groups, institutions and individuals whose contribution to the preservation and conservation of the Iberian lynx has been outstanding.

Five awards will be made during the course of the project, one per year. Of these, one will be made for each area of work: Portugal, Murcia, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalusia.

The recipients of these awards have been proposed by the project partners and there are five people, groups, institutions and organisations that will receive this recognition on this occasion.

The Region of Murcia distinguishes with this award the ‘Ayuntamiento de Lorca’ in recognition of the valuable support given to the reintroduction of the species in the municipality of Lorca. This process has been a complex challenge that has only been possible thanks to the commitment and close collaboration between various institutions and local actors. In this regard, it is essential to highlight the excellent willingness and support offered by the municipal corporation, which has shown from the outset a deep understanding of the importance of this project for the biodiversity of the region and the preservation of the local ecosystem.

In Extremadura, the award goes to the ‘Coto Social de Navalmoral de la Mata’, which has been actively collaborating with the lynx reintroduction project in the Valdecañas-Ibores area since 2016, working mainly on the recovery of the wild rabbit and on raising awareness and dissemination of the different LIFE projects and LIFE LYNXCONNECT.

In Andalusia, the award winner is the ‘Guarda de Coto D. Manuel Tena’ of the Sociedad de Cazadores ‘La Reunio’. In Andalusia, the town of Villanueva del Río y Minas has been an example of how all the local agents and institutions have been involved in the reappearance of such an emblematic animal as the Iberian Lynx in their municipality. The support received has been total, from the most distinguished institutions such as the Town Council, with a government team committed to collaboration, to neighbours, farm owners, farmers and above all the hunting society ‘La Reunión’, who, through the important figure of the Game Warden of the Reserve, from the beginning informed of the presence of at least one specimen of lynx in their reserve.

Manuel Tena is the gamekeeper of the hunting grounds managed by the hunting association ‘La Reunión’ and from the very first moment he contacted the lynx monitoring teams to pass on the information. From that day on, their collaboration and participation has been absolute, facilitating contact with landowners where the lynx were found and enabling a relationship of trust to be established, which has culminated in the fact that in less than 5 years we have gone from having no lynx to a population of close to 20 specimens, with at least 3 breeding females.

In Portugal, the award goes to ‘Sociedade Agricola vargas Madeira, Lda’, a family-owned agricultural company that owns a large area of land, located entirely within the Guadiana Valley Natural Park and, as such, in the Guadiana Valley Iberian Lynx reintroduction area, where several Iberian Lynx have been released (4) from captive breeding and where several free-ranging specimens have survived. Including at least 3 breeding females.

Extensive livestock farming activities are carried out on this property, based mainly on sheep production, based on the use of permanent pastures, managed with a particular focus on sustainability and respectful of the other natural values and processes that the territory allows to support.

In addition, the excellent reception of the local mayors in the different reintroduction areas has been a key factor in the success of this initiative. Their support has been crucial in facilitating the integration of the reintroduction of the species into the local community.
The fifth prize is awarded by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha to ‘Jose Luis Medina Dacuña’, for the collaboration of this businessman, hunter and nature lover was fundamental in the first steps of the project to recover the historic territories of the lynx in Castilla-La Mancha, then faltering, back in 2013, in one of the historically lynx-localities in Toledo where the reconquest of the species began, Ventas with Peña Aguilera.

Her help allowed us to gauge the perception of all the local residents, establish collaborative contacts and lay the foundations for all the actions that have been carried out in this area, ultimately a fundamental place for the settlement of the first lynxes.

Since 2015, Lila, one of the founding females, has been living on one of the estates she manages, and she has been joined by other specimens that have made it possible for many of the corners of Montes de Toledo to once again become the bastions of the species in Castilla-La Mancha.

Thanks to all of them