Wolves – Image by Christel SAGNIEZ from Pixabay
(BRUSSELS) – The European Commission tabled a proposal Wednesday which would mean a downgrade for the protection status of the wolf under the Bern Convention on nature conservation.
The Council of Europes Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats is the world’s oldest convention in the field of nature conservation and has been in force since 1979. It is seen as the original piece of international law that led to creation of the EU’s Habitats Directive, now seen as the cornerstone of EU conservation work.
The Commission is proposing to change the status of the wolf from protected’ to strictly protected’. It says it needs to do this because, according to Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, “the concentration of wolf packs in some European regions has become a real danger especially for livestock.”
However, the proposal has not been welcomed by environmental groups. “This is an outrageous announcement that has no scientific justification but is motivated purely by personal reasons and undermines not just the protection status of the wolf, but with it all nature conservation efforts in the EU, said the WWF European Policy Office’s Senior Biodiversity Policy Officer Sabien Leemans. Making the wolf a scapegoat for “socio-economic problems in rural communities” was unacceptable, he said, and could create “a dangerous precedent for all species and habitats in and outside the territory of the EU”.
The Commission says that the return of wolves to EU regions where they had been long absent and growing populations of woilves in new territories “has led to challenges and conflicts, such as attacks on livestock and conflicts with farmers and hunters, especially where damage prevention measures are not widely implemented.”
According to a Commission report, there are now more than 20,000 wolves with generally increasing populations and expanding ranges, and breeding packs in 23 EU Member States.
It says the expansion has led to “increasing conflicts with human activities, notably concerning livestock damages, with strong pressure on specific areas and regions”.
EU Member States will now have to make a decision on the proposal. Once adopted, the proposal will be submitted by the EU to the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention.
Changing protection status of the wolf under Bern Convention - guide
Commission’s proposal to the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention
