Madeira balances snail conservation success with grazing debate

An opinion piece highlights Madeira's conservation record, centred on the "Help Desertas Snails" project run by the IFCN with international partners to save four endemic land snail species once thought extinct. Since 2021 the programme has achieved captive breeding, habitat recovery and reintroductions, including over 1,300 snails released in 2024 and 1,100 more in 2025, with a technical reference document published in 2026. The article then turns to a more contentious issue: managed grazing in Madeira's mountains, defending the IFCN's approach of regulating rather than banning or uncontrollably expanding livestock presence, amid social change affecting the availability of local shepherds.