A livestock guard dog programme overseen by Rewilding Portugal has just reached its impressive target, with the 101st dog handed over to a local farmer. By reducing livestock predation, the programme will support the recovery of the endangered and ecologically important Iberian wolf.

An article recently published by the Wildlife Unit of the University of Aveiro, in partnership with Rewilding Portugal and Zoological (Lino et al., 2023), which includes data collected as part of the LIFE WolFlux project, highlights the impact of predation by stray dogs on livestock and reveals a greater representation of wild ungulates in the diet of the Iberian wolf south of the Douro River.

Brands have been slowly moving towards more sustainable and environmentally conscious production. Wildling Shoes, based in Germany, already has a long history of this type of production and has now developed, in partnership with Rewilding Portugal, a new shoe called Perto, which goes even further. A shoe that supports producers who live in a positive way with the Iberian wolf, supported by the LIFE WolFlux project.

Paulo Poço is the technical director of ACRIGUARDA, an organization of livestock producers in the municipality of Guarda. In this interview we get to know him a little better, his vision for the territory and the role of Rewilding Portugal in the new paradigms of the sector.

Fourteen civil society entities are making a public appeal to the Secretary of State for Nature Conservation to prevent the new compensation system for damage caused by the Iberian wolf from threatening coexistence with this endangered species in Portugal.

Rewilding Portugal’s surveillance team travels thousands of kilometres to protect nature. The team’s mission is to detect and report environmental crimes such as snares or wildlife poisonings. They are also part of the national effort to detect rural wildfires.

Hati, one of the dogs integrated by the LIFE WolFlux project to support livestock producers in the region and promote good coexistence practices between local communities and the Iberian wolf, lived an emotional story in September, in which he showed that he was made for these functions .

Between August and October 2020, a training session was held with Grupo Lobo to train the Rewilding Portugal team and the veterinarians collaborating with the LIFE WolFlux project. This training session allowed to the participants to gain more knowledge about the selection and integration of livestock guarding dogs in flocks and herds, and in the evaluation of these dogs’ performance.

In a recent social study conducted by the LIFE WolFlux project, almost half of key actors interviewed considers that it is possible for the wolf to live in the region, but only if certain conditions are met.

The discovery of a huge auroch engraving in northern Portugal’s Greater Côa Valley provides a historical perspective for contemporary rewilding efforts.