Iberlince organizes seminars in the Iberian lynx reintroduction municipalities of Castilla-La Mancha

Until the end of the month, the Life+Iberlince project, which aims to recover the historical distribution of the Iberian lynx in Spain and Portugal, will be conducting participatory seminars for all audiences in the municipalities of Montes de Toledo and south of Ciudad Real, which are part of the species’ reintroduction region.

With these celebrations and through a wide variety of participatory workshops, the Life+Iberlince project aims to ensure that all the attending public enjoys and learns with the Iberian lynx.

According to project specialists, the seminar will impart the importance of the reintroduction and conservation of the feline in the region to the entire population, especially young people.

The activities will be carried out in representative locations in the municipalities within the reintroduction project’s area of influence.

Set in the morning or afternoon, during its approximate three hour duration those in attendance will learn basic aspects about the life of the Iberian lynx, and all sorts of curiosities surrounding the Mediterranean hills, the ecosystem it inhabits.

Among the participating municipalities are those of Viso del Marqués, San Lorenzo de Calatrava, Almuradiel, Castellar de Santiago, Torre de Juan Abad, Villamanrique and Santa Cruz de Mudela, all in the Ciudad Real province.

Furthermore, in the Toledo province, San Pablo de los Montes, Las Ventas con Peña Aguilera, Menasalbas, Cuerva, Pulgar and Mazarambroz will participate.

The elaboration of masks, pendants with animal footprints, decoration of t-shirts, face painting, a large version of the Game of the Goose, the lynx taboo game, are all activities which won’t only entertain audiences but also relay the importance of the conservation of endemic species such as the Iberian lynx, project sources revealed.

In addition, participants will attend the theatrical performance of "La lincesa Ramona", which narrates the adventures of a very peculiar female of Iberian lynx that lives in the lands of Castilla-La Mancha.

One can also visit the exhibition " Territorios de Lince" (Lynx Territories), a visual tour over the Iberian lynx’s biology, threats and benefits of its recovery, as well as information about all the actions carried out by the Life+Iberlince Project .

With such a wide range of possibilities offered in the festivities, Iberlince specialists stated, children are made aware of the problems that the feline species is faced with in order for them to propose solutions that will help its conservation, and provide a good future for the lynx in Castilla-La Mancha.

Additionally, in order to have a memento of the seminar, all participants will be able to take photos with the Iberian lynx’s habitat as background, or as if they themselves were an Iberian lynx, thanks to a photocall(1) set up by the team monitoring these activities.

The Life+Iberlince project, which involves the participation of Spain and Portugal and four autonomous regions (Andalusia, Castilla La-Mancha, Extremadura and Murcia), is the project that has managed to restore the presence of the most threatened feline in the world in regions of the peninsula from whence it had already disappeared.