The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests of Portugal (ICNF) have assumed responsibility from today for ensuring the continuity of the Iberian Committee for the Coordination of Wild Rabbit Management (ERICC, for its English acronym), once the Life Iberconejo project has concluded.
The Director General of Agricultural Production and Markets, Elena Busutil, led this Wednesday the first session of this new phase of the coordination committee, whose central purpose is to maintain and reinforce cross-border cooperation for the sustainable management of wild rabbits.
This proposal follows up on the work previously developed within the framework of a pilot experience funded by the European Life program and coordinated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), in which national and regional administrations, research centers, and representatives from the environmental, hunting, and agricultural sectors participated.
The management of wild rabbits in the Iberian Peninsula faces a complex and, apparently, contradictory situation. In certain areas, there is an overabundance of specimens that causes significant damage to agricultural crops, while in others, a sharp decline in their populations is observed.
This dual reality requires joint action supported by scientific evidence, given that it is an engineer species and essential for Mediterranean ecosystems—where it constitutes the main prey for the Iberian lynx and large birds of prey—and that, at the same time, it possesses great socioeconomic and hunting importance for rural areas.
In this new period, the ERICC is consolidated as the reference space where administrations with responsibilities in the management of the species will coordinate their actions. The committee will incorporate the scientific community to contribute knowledge and innovation in decision-making, integrate the agricultural, hunting, and conservation sectors, and offer a stable framework for exchanging experiences, identifying needs, and advancing effective and balanced solutions.