The Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) has reversed its decision to replace the entire technical team responsible for the Algarve’s National Iberian Lynx Breeding Centre (CNRLI), located in the municipality of Silves, from 1st June.
In a statement, the ICNF announced that on 29nd May it awarded a service contract to the centre’s current management company for the operation and management of the National Iberian Lynx Breeding Centre (CNRLI), the Iberian Lynx Training and Recovery Complex (CTRLI), and field support activities linked to Portugal’s Iberian Lynx Conservation and Reintroduction Programme.
This contract will run for 14 months and, according to the ICNF, “will ensure the continuity of operations during a period considered particularly important for the welfare and monitoring of any cubs born in 2027, until they reach a greater degree of independence”.
The agreement also includes the preparation of a proposal for the future management model of the breeding centre.
The ICNF reiterated its “absolute commitment to the conservation of the Iberian lynx in Portugal and to the continuation of the species’ breeding and reintroduction programme”.
“This commitment is reflected not only in the ongoing conservation strategy implemented by the ICNF and its national and international partners, but also in the new Action Plan for the Conservation of the Iberian Lynx in Portugal (PACLIP 2026–2030) and the renewal of the partnership with Águas do Algarve, which guarantees funding for the project until 2037,” the organisation said.
The ICNF’s original decision to remove the technical team that has managed the CNRLI since its foundation 16 years ago became public in mid-May, when it emerged that the agency intended to assume direct management of the centre from 1st June under the coordination of Alexandra Pereira, former director of the ICNF’s Companion Animal Welfare Department.
News of the planned dismissal of the CNRLI team and its director, Rodrigo Serra, coordinator of the Iberian Ex Situ Conservation Programme for the Iberian lynx and technical director of the breeding centre, triggered an immediate backlash from environmental and animal welfare organisations.
Critics feared that such a significant change, introduced without a transition period and without any official explanation, could jeopardise the long-running recovery programme for one of the world's most endangered feline species.
In a statement, the CNRLI team acknowledged that “it is for the Portuguese State to determine the management model of its nature conservation programmes”, but argued that “an operation of this complexity requires a technically, legally, and operationally secure transition, properly coordinated with the Iberian partners who have successfully participated in the lynx conservation programme over the past 16 years”.
Rodrigo Serra warned that “the Iberian lynx in Portugal has been recovered through decades of scientific, technical, and institutional cooperation between Portugal and Spain”.
“We are dealing with a highly specialised, permanent and sensitive operation that cannot be replaced overnight without a robust transition plan,” he said.
At stake were also the jobs of 14 highly specialised professionals, some of whom have dedicated more than a decade to the Iberian lynx conservation programme in Portugal. The team includes veterinarians, animal keepers, technicians and specialists who have accumulated unique expertise in the species’ behaviour, breeding, management and rehabilitation.
Environmental organisations, together with Spanish programme partners, voiced unanimous opposition to the proposed changes. The issue eventually reached the Portuguese Parliament, where several political parties demanded explanations from the government and the Environment Minister.
Initially, the minister declined to comment, describing the matter as an internal ICNF issue. However, amidst mounting criticism, she later met with the agency, which is itself reportedly facing a broader restructuring process.
For the time being, the CNRLI team will remain in place for at least the next 14 months, although the matter has not been definitively settled.
Their contribution has been central to the Iberian Ex Situ Conservation Programme, a joint Portuguese-Spanish initiative widely regarded as one of Europe’s most successful wildlife conservation projects.
When the breeding centre was inaugurated, fewer than 150 Iberian lynxes remained in the wild worldwide. Since then, more than 180 lynx cubs have been born at the Silves facility alone, while over one hundred animals have been prepared for reintroduction into their natural habitat.
The centre has become a cornerstone of the Iberian breeding and recovery programme, helping Portugal move from a situation of functional extinction of the species to the establishment of a breeding population in the wild.
Source: ICNF / CNRLI
Photo Credit: Helena Geraldes
