Dhe EU Commission's proposal to downgrade the wolf's status from “strictly protected” to “protected” has further fueled the wolf debate in Germany. Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) warned on Thursday of “an attack on European species protection law”.
She expects the Commission to “not only focus on the wolf, but also to present concrete and effective proposals against the extinction of species”. In order to practically improve the coexistence of livestock farming and wolves, rapid shooting of wolves will be made possible in this country in areas with an increased incidence of wolves.
“This regulation is legally secure, pragmatic and takes effect very quickly,” emphasized Lemke, referring to a corresponding decision by the conference of federal and state environmental ministers at the beginning of December.
The minister has rejected calls to lower the protection status of the wolf and, closely related to this, has also taken steps to enable hunting of wolves to regulate the population. Lemke argues, among other things, that the procedure for downgrading the protection status takes far too long. This is no help for grazing livestock farmers who now need concrete support.
The Bern Convention regulates the protection status of the wolf
The EU Commission has proposed initially adjusting the protection status of the wolf in the Bern Convention, in which 51 mostly European states commit to protecting wild animals, plants and their habitats.
The density of wolf packs in some European regions has now “become a real danger, especially for livestock farming,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, explaining the initiative on Wednesday. She cited an EU analysis that was also presented on Wednesday. According to this, there are more than 20,000 wolves with mostly growing populations and expanding ranges as well as packs with puppies in 23 EU member states.
The proposal to reduce the protection status would have to be approved by a qualified majority in the EU Environment Council. The next meeting on the Berne Convention will not take place until November 2024. Just over a year ago, Switzerland unsuccessfully applied for a downgrade of its protection status at the Bern Convention. As long as the wolf is considered “strictly protected” there, its status cannot be lowered at EU level.
Representatives of nature conservation associations expressed outrage at von der Leyen's initiative, while the German Farmers' Association spoke of a “long overdue step”.
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