Over 500 schoolchildren attended Iberlince project’s sensitisation days in the Toledo and Ciudad Real provinces

Over 500 schoolchildren from three educational centres in the Toledo and Ciudad Real provinces participated in the sensitisation days carried out this year through the Life+Iberlince project, thus continuing the line of work initiated by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha to disseminate the species’ reintroduction actions in Montes de Toledo and Western Sierra Morena.

In February, these actions took place at the ' Nuestra Señora de Gracia ' public school in San Pablo de los Montes, in Toledo. This time, the conferences (aimed at both primary school students and teachers) were attended by the schoolchildren from the 'Carmen Arias' primary school in Tomelloso, and the' Paseo Viejo de Florida' school in Almagro, both in the Ciudad Real province.

All of them were taught by Fomecam specialists who, along with the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development, were responsible for the program’s development in Castilla-La Mancha. These conferences valued the Iberian lynx’s conservation and recovery in Castilla-La Mancha, where 70 specimens have been reintroduced since the program began.

In the 'Paseo Viejo de la Florida' primary school, in Almagro, the activities involved the centre’s youngest students, aged 3 to 5 years old, and combined both a theoretical and a practical part.
Through photos and videos, the schoolchildren were able to grasp the theoretical aspects regarding lynx’s life and the problems it has to overcome in order to survive in the wild, as well as the work carried out for its conservation. In the practical part, they made their own lynx masks and a necklace with the endangered feline’s footprint, while first graders attended a face-painting workshop with project specialists.

Despite their young age, many of the students were familiar with the species, its life and habits, thanks to the remarkable awareness work that teachers themselves carry out in schools in order to encourage respect for nature and its conservation.

Similarly, early childhood teachers of the 'Carmen Arias' primary school in Tomelloso carried out drawing, identification and crafting activities, all accompanied by a myriad of information regarding the species and its conservation in Castilla-La Mancha.

The Life+Iberlince project to recover the historical distribution of the Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Spain and Portugal is coordinated by the Regional Government of Andalusia, and involves 22 partners from different autonomous regions and Portugal. Within Castilla-La Mancha, the partners involved in the project are: WWF, Aproca, FOMECAM and the Autonomous Organization of National Parks (Cabañeros National Park), all of them headed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Development of Castilla-La Mancha