ICNF ‘Action Plan’ has seen wolf population continue to decline
The government has given the ICNF (Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests) three months to present a proposal for the 2025-2035 Pack Programme, for the preservation of the Iberian wolf population in Portugal.
A dispatch published today in state gazette Diário da República states that the development of the programme “must be based on the evaluation and updating of the Action Plan for the Conservation of the Wolf in Portugal”, from 2017, which has not had “the expected success”.
According to the order, signed by Minister of Environment and Energy Maria da Graça Carvalho, “the population situation of the Iberian Wolf in Portugal has been evolving unfavorably, which is why it is important to review and update strategies aimed at its conservation”.
“The results of the 2019/2021 Iberian Wolf Census, published in December 2024, show a tendency for the geographic distribution areas of the species to contract, which at the beginning of the 20th century was spread from north to south of the country”.
The census revealed that the area where wolves are present in Portugal has reduced by 20% and that the number of packs detected has decreased by 8%, to 58, in two decades, mainly to the north of the Douro River.
In Peneda/Gerês there was an increase in packs, from 16 to 24, with a decrease in the remaining three areas, mainly in Alvão/Padrela, where the estimated number of packs suffered a reduction of more than 50% (from 13 to six).
“Mortality due to human causes” (snares, shooting, poisoning, road kill) and attacks on livestock, which leads to a lower tolerance to their presence, the low availability of wild prey and the installation of communication and energy production infrastructures are among the main factors that harm wolf conservation.
According to the government, it is also necessary to update legislation from August 2016 on the legal framework for the conservation of the species, to “keep in force mechanisms for compensating livestock producers in the event of attacks on livestock, in order to pay for the damage caused and guarantee support for conservation efforts, minimising the risk of conflict between economic activities and conservation objectives”.
The dispatch also states that the proposal for the 2025-2035 Pack Programme will be subject to public consultation for 30 days, and is open to receiving contributions
Eventual approval will be by Resolution of the Council of Ministers, and the programme “will include a provision for multi-annual financing with a view to its effective implementation”.
LUSA
Meantime, Saturday February 1 will see a reforestation action in Paredes de Coura, in partnership with the local municipality, in a bid to restore the habitat of the Iberian Wolf.
Groups Amigos da Montanha (Friends of the Mountain) and Life Wild Wolf stress the survival of the Iberian Wolf depends on ecological balance: 15,000 trees will thus be planted, starting on Saturday, and anyone who wants to help protect the environment is welcome.
The meeting begins at 7.45am at the headquarters of Amigos da Montanha in Barcelinhos, and the initiative runs until mid-afternoon.
