Environmental groups call for coordinated Iberian wolf protection

Iberian wolf protection across the Portugal–Spain border

Three environmental organisations from Portugal, Spain and Italy on Tuesday called for “coordinated action” to address weaknesses in Iberian wolf protection arising from legislative differences between the two countries.

“Wolves born in Portugal under strict protection regularly disperse across the border into Spain, where, north of the River Douro, they can now be hunted, killed and targeted by poachers under a fragmented legal framework that has recently been weakened,” the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said in a statement. They stressed that “conservation investment made in Portugal is, in part, systematically undone on the other side of the border”.

Call for joint Iberian wolf governance

Green Impact ETS (Italy), Rewilding Portugal (Portugal) and the Fondo para la Protección del Lobo Ibérico (Spain) say there is a lack of cross-border governance. They point to Portugal, where poaching, habitat fragmentation and administrative delays in compensating damage have kept the species’ conservation status unfavourable despite decades of legal protection.

The three NGOs are calling for a Portugal–Spain bilateral structure for the Iberian wolf, based on the proven model that saved the Iberian lynx from extinction. Jointly coordinated by the two national authorities - the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests and Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition - it would develop a conservation strategy and a single shared annual census of the cross-border population.

They also demand a permanent, dedicated budget line for cross-border large carnivore conservation in the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). This would fund joint monitoring, habitat restoration, ecological connectivity and law-enforcement measures without reliance on short-term projects.

EU funding for coexistence measures

The organisations further request dedicated European Union financial support for coexistence measures, with particular emphasis on livestock protection and compensation schemes.