Conservation|Member states would have more flexibility to allow wolf hunting if they cause harm.
EU countries on Wednesday approved a motion according to which the wolf would change from a completely relaxed species to a protected species. According to diplomatic sources quoted by the AFP news agency, only two countries voted against.
The proposal to change the protected status is justified by the growth of the wolf population.
Finland has supported the change. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sari Essayah (kd) praised the change in the protection status of the wolf in the message service X and said that Finland had done “a lot of influencing work” before the decision.
The governing parties were satisfied with the EU decision.
“Wolves cause economic losses and a huge additional workload for livestock farmers. The constant presence of the beasts in the yards and on the school routes due to the weakening of wolves’ compassion for humans has caused a justified concern for safety. Now we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, that we can promote hunting for the sake of support”, the coalition MP Milla Lahdenperä said in the announcement.
EU Commission proposed last December that the protection level of the wolf be changed in the Bern Convention, i.e. the European Convention on Nature Conservation.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention will meet at the beginning of December 2024. If the decision is accepted in the Berne Agreement, the Commission can then start preparing to amend the Annex to the EU Habitats Directive. The protection of wolves in the EU is based precisely on the Habitats Directive.
In Finland, the wolf is still very endangered.
The wolf would remain protected with the change in protection status, but the member countries should have more flexibility to curb potential harm caused by the growth of the wolf population.
in the EU estimated to be around 20,000 wolves. The wolf population has strengthened in recent years, which has raised concerns in several EU countries, including Finland. It is estimated that there are around 300 wolves in Finland.
The actions of wolves have also hit the core of the EU Commission: in 2022, a wolf killed the chairman of the commission in northern Germany Ursula von der Leyen of Dolly the pet pony.
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