Mogadouro, Portugal, Sept. 11, 2026 (Lusa) - The minister for the environment and the minister for agriculture have signed a joint order stipulating that livestock farmers who suffer losses as a result of attacks by the Iberian wolf must receive compensation «promptly», the government announced on Friday.
According to the two ministers, this decision will speed up and simplify the administrative and financial procedures for assessing losses, which will now be completed within a maximum of 20 working days, with payments to be made by the end of the immediately following month; the measures take effect from 1 January 2027.
The government has acknowledged that streamlining the current procedures, which can otherwise take several months, will benefit communities living in areas where the Iberian wolf is present and will mitigate the economic impact of the attacks, particularly on smaller farms and extensive farming systems.
Quoted in the statement sent to Lusa, the minister for the environment and energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, emphasised that protecting the Iberian wolf also means protecting those who live and work in the areas where this species is present.
«We must ask local communities to coexist with a protected species and, when damage occurs, ensure that producers receive compensation within a few weeks. With these new deadlines, we are providing a faster and fairer response to those who suffer damage and, at the same time, we are strengthening the conditions for balanced coexistence and for the conservation of the Iberian wolf,» the minister stressed in the document.
For his part, the minister for agriculture and maritime affairs, José Manuel Fernandes, also said in the statement that this measure is «the result of changes that enable the creation of a simpler, more streamlined and fairer model».
«Our shepherds must be supported and valued. They contribute to food security, territorial cohesion and civil protection. Through their work, food is produced, and the fuel load is reduced, thereby lowering the risk of fire», he emphasised.
In the statement, the government said it recognised that prompt procedures strengthen social acceptance of the Iberian wolf's presence and, consequently, the species' conservation, and that it has been strengthening the compensation scheme.
«Relevant technical aspects concerning the assessment of damage and the determination of compensation have recently been clarified, and the maximum compensation amounts per animal have been updated to bring them closer to market values. The circumstances eligible for compensation have also been expanded, notably to include cases of missing animals and animals under one month old,» the statement added.
The new deadlines now agreed will come into effect from 1 January 2027, allowing time for the necessary adaptation of the technical, IT and financial procedures of the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF) and the Institute for the Financing of Agriculture and Fisheries (IFAP), which are responsible for implementing the measure.
On Sunday, more than fifty shepherds from the Mirandese Plateau demonstrated in Naso, in Miranda do Douro, calling on the government to make timely payments in response to wolf attacks in recent years in this region of Trás-os-Montes.
Shepherds and livestock farmers from the municipalities of Miranda do Douro, Vimioso and Mogadouro, in the district of Bragança, wore black T-shirts bearing slogans such as «Protected wolves = struggling farmers» or «Let's save the plateau».
They also displayed posters with photographs showing the ‘chaos and damage' caused by wolf attacks in some parts of the north of the country, where the wolves have killed small ruminants and large animals such as horses and cattle.
According to the ICNF, Portugal has protected the Iberian wolf since 1988. Its endangered status confers it Protected Species Status.
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