20 October 2006 - Spain has been given a final warning by the European Commission before possible court action over a road plan that threatens the endangered Iberian Lynx .

The Iberian Lynx, Europe’s most endangered big cat, is on the brink of extinction. Less than 200 remain in the wild, mainly living in Spain and Portugal.

But human activity – including road-building and infrastructure development funded with EU cash – is pushing the species to the brink of extinction.

Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has been to visit the cats’ territory in Andalusia and worked closely with Portuguese NGO ‘SOS Lynx’ to demand the Spanish government protects remaining Lynx habitats and the EU withdraws funding from any projects that threaten the species’ survival. She commissioned a report into the cats’ future – and the threat posed to it by EU development projects – in 2004.

This week, the European Commission warned the Spanish government that plans for a road project in the Donana National Park would harm the Lynx population – and that Madrid could face legal action in the European Court of Justice unless it improves the plans or scraps the project entirely.

Dr Lucas, who is a vice-president of the European Parliament’s cross-party animal welfare group and the RSPCA, said: “I welcome the decision of the European Commission to threaten court action to persuade the Spanish government to take seriously its legal responsibilities to protect the Iberian Lynx.

“But we must not forget that this crisis has been precipitated in part by the Commission itself, whose economic and regional development policies are in direct contradiction of its conservation commitments.

“If the EU is to be a serious force for protecting biodiversity it must call time on all such projects affecting the Iberian Lynx and other threatened species.

“Failure to save the species would be a dark day for conservation: the Iberian Lynx would become the first big cat species since the sabre-toothed tiger to be driven to extinction, and the EU would effectively be giving the green light to the rest of the world to prioritise development and road-building over the protection of endangered species."

ENDS