European Commission launches LIFE SAVE Desman project to protect Pyrenean desman

The European Commission has announced the selection of 135 new environmental and climate projects funded by the LIFE program, totaling over 390 million euros. Among these initiatives is the LIFE SAVE Desman project, a Spanish-led effort dedicated to the recovery and survival of the Pyrenean desman (Galemys pyrenaicus).

The Pyrenean desman is a rare, semi-aquatic mammal found in the mountain rivers and streams of the Iberian Peninsula. The species faces an uncertain future due to habitat degradation, changes in river courses, and climate change. As a specialist species, it relies on well-preserved fluvial ecosystems characterized by cool, oxygenated water and abundant aquatic invertebrates.

Fieldwork is currently underway to detect the presence of the desman through riverbed prospecting and the identification of excrement and other biological traces.