The European Parliament has given the final touch to the reduction of the protection of the wolf, which will allow the states that want it – and they are quite – to increase their hunt. The long legislative process, which and that has required a modification of the Bern Convention of the European Council – especially the conservation of wildlife and flora and the natural habitats of Europe – has with the vote in the plenary of the Eurocamara of the measure, which will imply lowering the qualification of the “strictly protected” species canid to only “protected”.
The Eurodiputados have supported widely – 371 votes in favor, 162 against and 37 abstentions – the proposal to update the EU habitat directive. With this step only a formal ratification by the European Council (which is taken for granted, since it already endorsed it in mid -April) is required so that it can go into force. Once published in the Official Gazette, the states will have 18 months to meet it, although not all countries will necessarily open the canid closure: one of the most reluctant is Spain, which abstained (such as Belgium and Poland) during the vote at the level of states.
In fact, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Hugo Morán, has already sent a letter to the regional governments of Asturias, Cantabria and Galicia in which he reminds them that the wolf does not automatically and has asked them for information on the number of animals that will be hunted.
The state of conservation of the wolf remains unfavorable or inappropriate in the biogeographic regions in which it is present – mediterranean, Atlantic and Alpine – as well as in the rest of the national territory, sources of the Ministry of Ecological Transition remember.
Brussels, on the other hand, argues that there are more than 20,000 wolves in Europe and that, paradoxically, the “history of conservation success” that is the recovery of this species that became on the edge of extinction, has caused “an increase in conflicts with human activities”, especially in livestock. “The concentration of wolves in some European regions has become a real danger for cattle and, potentially, also for humans,” said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, by launching the initiative now culminated, in September 2023.
A year earlier, one of your favorite ponies, Dollyhe had been a victim precisely from the attack of a wolf near his residence in Baja Saxony. The political family of Von der Leyen, the European Popular Party (PPE), which has been the promoter of the reduction of the protection of the wolf, has celebrated a decision that, he states, fits the new reality after years of recovery of the species.
“This flexibility will facilitate a more adaptable and effective management of wolf populations, which will result in better results for both human beings and for wild fauna, and will provide ranchers with the tools they need to protect their cattle and maintain their subsistence means,” said the MEP of Esther Herranz, responsible for this issue in the Commission of the Environment of the Eurocamara.
However, environmental associations have strongly criticized the measure, because, they say, it is not supported by any scientific evidence and see in it an intention of the most conservative sectors to “dismantle” more environmental protection laws.
