Permission for hunting activities in protected areas of the Iberian Peninsula has generate disagreement between environmentalists and governments.
Recently, the Portuguese government allowed the hunting of wild rabbit in the southern part of the nature reserve of Malcata, a protected area for the Iberian lynx. Although, there have been no sightings of feline specimens in danger extinction for several years ago, there is now a conservation plan that expectes to reintroduce in this area the Iberian lynx and for this reason the European Union has invested thousands of euros, through programs habitat restoration of the wild rabbit population, which is it's favorite food.
The "Quercus" challenges this government option, because as stated in its statement, "it may jeopardize the recovery of various prey species that are recoverable in the area such as roe deer, deer and rabbit, and still of endangered species such as the lynx, the wolf or the black vulture. Most of the Portuguese territory can exercise hunting activity, with very few areas in the country where there is no hunting. A decision which according to the environmental non-governmental organization, "lacks any scientific basis, are not known to date no study on the populations of species that may be exploited. Moreover, the fact that Serra da Malcata Natural Reserve, like many other protected areas, meet serious operating deficiencies due to lack of human and financial resources, which is reflected in the surveillance and enforcement actions taken. The Serra da Malcata Natural Reserve is already facing severe poaching problems, so the choice to now allow hunting in this protected area will only aggravate the problems of supervision in the reserve. "
In neighboring Spain, these days, the subject of the wolf hunt was again talk of the day, after the shepherds require "control" through selective hunting activity of this species. In 2014, the governments of Spain and France sent to Brussels a petition asking for the modification of the Habitats Directive that, while maintaining the ban on wolf hunting south of the Douro river, allows its "management" north of the river. The Spanish group "ecologia en acción" is also against this measure that in their view according to statements Theo Oberhuber, coordinator of the environmental movement to the ABC newspaper, "hunting the wolves does not solve any problem, on the contrary and even cites Alberto Fernández Gil, a biologist, who ensures that "more dead wolves will lead to further damage due to the social nature of the animal, when the male or alpha female die, the group breaks down and attacks livestock. Living together is not easy. but it is possible with traditional methods of grazing: with mastiffs and collected cattle at night". What is ironic and unfortunate at the same time is that on both sides of the border were spent millions in EU funds for preservation of these various rare species of the Iberian Peninsula and in the end are the hunters who "profit" with environmental protection programs .
