Portugal updates Iberian wolf protection and livestock compensation

The Portuguese Government has updated the protection regime for the Iberian wolf and the compensation system for livestock producers. This revision, announced jointly by the Ministries of Environment and Energy and Agriculture and Sea, aims to balance species conservation with the economic sustainability of farms in wolf-populated territories.

Key changes include the removal of progressive reductions in compensation values, ensuring more stable and proportional payments regardless of the number of attacks. Additionally, the new rules allow for compensation in cases where animals disappear following an attack, subject to technical validation by the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF). The policy also eliminates the automatic exclusion of compensation for animals under one month old, adjusting the system to reflect real-world free-grazing conditions.