Originally from the parish of Santo Ildefonso, in Porto, Pedro Bernardo Marques da Silva Rodrigues Sarmento graduated in Biology from the University of Porto and obtained a doctorate in Biological Sciences from the University of Aveiro. After graduating in Biology, he began working as a Senior Technician at the Serra da Malcata Nature Reserve, focusing on the Iberian lynx, an endemic feline species that laid the groundwork for the mountain range’s designation as a Nature Reserve in the early 1980s. He worked there for several years and, in July 2002, was selected through a competitive process to chair the Nature Reserve’s Steering Committee, a position he held until June 2007.

During this period, he was responsible for several community projects aimed at maintaining or improving the natural habitat conditions, essential for the continued presence of the Iberian lynx in Malcata. He also coordinated the national lynx census at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, which concluded that there were no stable or territorial lynx populations or individuals in Portugal. Always focused on the conservation and restoration of lynx populations and habitats, he never ceased to be involved and committed to the conservation and understanding of other species and groups of species. He studied the diets of other carnivores, worked on the chorological understanding of birds, amphibians, and reptiles, and on the conservation of threatened and protected species, such as the cinereous vulture and the ocelot.

Everything related to biodiversity deserved Pedro Sarmento’s attention and dedication. Even after his tasks and long days of fieldwork, he devoted time to scientific drawing, illustration, and nature photography—two activities in which he was as competent and creative as he was discreet. Later, he participated in several meetings and conferences at the Iberian and international levels, which led to the development of an “Action Plan for the Conservation of the Iberian Lynx in Portugal,” which he coordinated at the time. He also formed a multidisciplinary team to prepare and implement the necessary conservation actions, including Portugal’s participation in the “Spanish Ex Situ Conservation Program for the Iberian Lynx.” He was a member of its advisory body, the Iberian Lynx Captive Breeding Committee (CCCLI), and Portugal’s invited representative to the Iberian Lynx Working Group, part of Spain’s Fauna and Flora Committee. He also co-authored the Action Plan for the Ex Situ Conservation of the Iberian Lynx in Portugal, approved by the CCCLI in 2005, which led to the construction, between 2008 and 2009, of the National Iberian Lynx Breeding Center (CNRLI) in Silves. He was also a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Cat Specialist Group.

He participated in the development of the “Action Plan for the Conservation of the Iberian Lynx in Portugal – PACLIP,” approved in May 2008, which also provided for the creation of the CNRLI (National Center for the Rehabilitation of the Iberian Lynx), as well as the need to establish a “Lynx Reintroduction Program in Portugal” based on animals born and trained in captivity. Pedro’s unwavering will and dedication were fundamental to its success. The reintroduction was finally implemented in the Guadiana Valley starting in December 2014, within the framework of the LIFE Iberlince project, which ran from 2011 to 2018 and continued, from 2020 onwards, through the current LIFE Lynxconnect project.

After many years of chasing a phantom, the good years arrived. These were the years in which the Iberian lynx defied our wildest expectations and adapted to the Guadiana Valley in a surprising way. A time of record-breaking numbers led to exponential population growth, reaching 354 individuals in Portugal by the end of 2024. Fortunately, Pedro was able to see the results of his work, and wherever he is, he will undoubtedly feel great satisfaction.

In recent years, the lectures he gave based on the results of this work have impressed and motivated biologists and conservation leaders in many countries, as the success of the conservation and recovery of the Iberian lynx populations is a remarkable and unique example worldwide.

They say no one is irreplaceable, but that’s not how we feel about the loss of Pedro Sarmento.

As his colleagues at Iberlince and LynxConnect, who had the privilege of collaborating with Pedro at the beginning of the Iberian lynx reintroduction in Portugal, know well, Pedro “loved and slept with the lynxes.”

To all of us who knew and grew up alongside Pedro in the fight to recover the Iberian lynx, or who had the opportunity to observe a lynx in the wild, reproducing in the Alentejo and Algarve regions, which gradually expanded to other locations on the Iberian Peninsula, it is our duty to continue his example of dedication, perseverance, altruism, and competence. His determination and focus on goals and results will always inspire those who knew him and, hopefully, all those who work for the benefit of conservation.

We are aware that we have lost a guiding light, but he taught us to move forward.