According to the mayor of Penamacor, António Luís Beites, the project also involves the neighbouring municipality of Sabugal, in Guarda district, as well as Castelo de Vide in Portalegre district and EDIA, the company that oversees the Alqueva reservoir and related infrastructure in the Alentejo.

"We all like our Iberian lynx very much and of course we want to have it again in our territories, not least because of the high tourist interest that could be associated with it," Beites said.

The Serra da Malcata, a range that historically was an important habitat for the Iberian lynx and which is now a natural reserve, stretch across Penamacor and Sabugal municipalities.

The 'Lynx 2020' project, as it is called, is a candidate for European Union funds as part of the POSEUR programme, which is aimed at fostering sustainability and the efficient use of resources.

"We hope that this candidacy can be approved by the end of the year so that in 2017 we can start applying measures on the ground, so as to be able to create new natural habitat conditions so that the Iberian lynx is once more reintroduced into these territories," Beites said.

The key action, he explained, is creating conditions that make possible the reproduction and proliferation of the wild rabbit, which is the main food source for the Iberian lynx. Among planned measures is the construction and maintenance of fenced off areas where the rabbits can reproduce, the sowing of appropriate plants, and action to control other predators.

There are plans for an existing park in Sabugal to start operations, for an existing park in Penamacor to be repaired, and for a third park to be set up, if it proves necessary. The project is formally separate from the 'LIFE+Iberlince' programme for the reintroduction of lynx into the Iberian Peninsula, which ended up not including the Serra da Malcata as initially foreseen.

According to Beites, one of the new project's aims is to prove that the failure to include Malcata in the main programme was an "error".