Iberlince supports biodiversity conservation in Torrenueva (Ciudad Real)

Torrenueva, a town located southwest of the Ciudad Real province, in the Campo de Montiel region, a peripheral area of Eastern Sierra Morena, one of the two Iberian lynx reintroduction areas of Castilla-La Mancha that are part of the LIFE+Iberlince Project: Recovery of the historical distribution of the Iberian Lynx in Spain and Portugal.

Although not integrated within the reintroduction municipalities, it has been frequently utilized by specimens released by the project due to its proximity to the recovery and reintroduction area, and the lynx’s high mobility. Therefore, the population has shown great interest in the project ever since its inception. And with that in mind, the Plataforma Sí a la Tierra Viva (Yes to the Living Earth Platform) asked project specialists to assist in a dissemination activity with a talk intended mainly for a younger audience but not exclusively, given many adults attended it.

This talk raised great interest among the audience, who congratulated the project for making the reintroduction of the Iberian lynx in the province possible. In addition, the need to conserve the natural and rural environments for the preservation of the rural population was acknowledged, as a way to ensure that these peoples aren’t affected by depopulation, a cause of loss of much of our cultural and natural heritage.

The dissemination activity aimed to establish an understanding of the Iberian lynx and the need to maintain a well-preserved Mediterranean habitat. Biological aspects, needs, threats and the project’s success were all crystalized during the initiative, which took on a playful tone with a giant board game format of the "Iberian Lynx Game", a new version of the classic game of the goose which FomeCam specialists introduced to the interested, motivated group.

Attendees took the Iberian lynx as reference; emblematic not only for its unique beauty, but also because it helps maintain biodiversity. Its role as a natural regulator of general predatorial populations, as well as the hunter’s ally, is becoming more and more apparent and necessary given that the region that includes Torrenueva is composed of a Mediterranean mosaic that offers all the possibilities of success, it being a suitable habitat for rabbits and thus, for the Iberian lynx.

Iberlince issues its appreciation for the invitation to share and disseminate the project’s work in favor of the Iberian lynx and the Mediterranean forest.