Iberian Lynx watching holiday in Spain

Planet

Nature positive

This trip is working to protect the Iberian lynx in the Sierra de Andujar Natural Park. IUCN Red List status is Endangered

The biggest threats to the lynx are habitat destruction and hunting.

What action is being taken to address these threats?

We keep a record of all the lynx activity we see on each tour and record the environmental factors, this data is used by ourselves but also given to the researchers who work for SOS Lynx. All the information collected in invaluable as the knowledge of this lynx population very little understood. We also donate our pictures to the researchers to aid in their photo identification studies.

Where possible, we make sure that the lodges, camps and ranches that we use support local projects for the protection of the wildlife and local communities which rely on tourism as the principal source of income.

What successes have there been?

The current Iberian lynx population in Sierra de Andujar Natural Park is making a large recovery in their numbers. We are not sure if this can be called a success of the trip or the work is done in this location because the population is strengthening.

How can tourists expect to see the conservation work, or make a contribution?

Environment

In Spain (as with everywhere we go) we carefully choose accommodation, supplies and transportation that either minimises its effect on the environment or helps to contribute to its sustainable development. By choosing small, privately owned accommodation where possible we also look to only stay in truly eco-lodges that abide by basic and also pioneering methods of ecological sustainability. Where possible, we make sure that the lodges, camps and ranches that we use support local projects for the protection of the wildlife and local communities which rely on tourism as the principal source of income. We make sure that all the food consumed on the tour is locally sourced.

We plant around 10,000 trees in the Russian Far East each year as part of our on going commitment to reforesting areas unsustainable deforested. In this particular tour we look to us hybrid vehicles (electric vehicles where possible - this is not always possible when going off road on safari) as well as staying and recommending eco hotels. We also encourage our clients to arrive into Andujar with the local train and not driving by not including transfers to and from the major airports (Malaga and Madrid) in the price of the trip.

Wildlife Promise: By bringing people here with a professional zoologist we aim to not just showcase the lynx and its natural environment in full but also to allow you to learn about the problems facing the lynx and other endangered European species in the area and how cutting edge research is countering the problems as well as showing you examples of success stories (such as the Iberian wolf). We also keep a record of all the lynx activity we see on each tour and record the environmental factors, this data is used by ourselves but also given to the researchers who work for SOS Lynx. All the information collected in invaluable as the knowledge of this lynx population very little understood. We also donate our pictures to the researchers to aid in their photo identification studies.

People

In all of our tours of Spain we stick to our policies that strive for continued environmental conservation ethics to be upheld by ourselves and all the local suppliers that we use. We look to employ as many local staff in our tours and in Spain we employ the services of local biologists. Our local guides are members of the Los Amigos de la laguna de La Janda.

This area is a huge agricultural area in southern Cadiz province. It used to be one of the biggest lakes and wetlands in Europe but has since been drained in the last century. This environmental project hopes to recover a substantial piece of this land and return it to its natural state, which would inevitably lead to even more wildlife returning to this rich area. We also support projects which are looking into alternatives to the needless slaughter of birds by farmers.

We spend much of our time searching for birds on private land and pay the farmers for the privilege, this then increases their revenue and farmers are beginning to be very happy to have birds on their land. We also encourage the purchasing of local handicrafts which are all created in a sustainable way and provide great unique souvenirs.

Our local guides are just that, local on this tour, so their travelling distances to and from the tour are small, the hides and lodges we use on this tour have very small energy requirements, instead of using heating by using accommodation with modern and effective insulation, which helps in lowering the energy requirements on the trip.

The vast majority of the food on this trip comes from local producers and we look to reduce the amount of meat consumed on the trip by providing vegetarian meals where possible and more fish than meat.