The countries of the European Union supported this Wednesday the initiative of lower the protection status of the wolffrom “strictly protected” to only “protected” in accordance with the proposal of the European Commission, in a vote in which Spain voted againstA majority of member states voted in favour of the change at a meeting at ambassadorial level, which Ireland also opposed, while Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Belgium abstained, diplomatic sources told EFE.
“Adapting the protection status will be an important step to address the challenges posed by increasing wolf populations while maintaining the overall objective of achieving and maintaining a favourable conservation status for the species,” a spokesperson told a press conference for the European Union Commission, an institution that pushed for the change in a proposal presented in December 2023.
Once this official vote has been taken at ministerial level, Brussels will present this initiative to the Standing Committee of the Berne Conventionthe international forum in which the reduction of the wolf’s protection status would eventually be decided on condition that the necessary majority is obtained at a meeting scheduled for the first days of December, as explained by the Community authorities.
During the Commission’s oral presentation at this meeting, the Executive will maintain that the change of status refers to “the wolf and only the wolf”, Avoid opening the “Pandora’s box” of other animals that are controversial, such as bears or beavers. If this happens, the European Commission will have to propose an amendment to the European Habitats Directive, which will then have to be adopted by both the European Parliament and EU governments.
This modification would “only” change the conservation status of the wolf and not that of other speciesas the community’s spokesperson pointed out in the face of accusations from various NGOs, who before Wednesday’s vote had requested that the protection of this animal not be lowered. In a letter signed by more than 300 civil organizations, including WWF, BirdLife and the European Environmental Agency (EEB), they defended that the wolf should continue to be under “strict” protection in accordance with current scientific evidence since its populations are still “far” from being “good and viable” despite the “remarkable recovery” observed. Diplomatic sources opposed to the change of status told EFE that there is currently no “updated scientific data, the latest is from 2019 and next year we will have an updated census.”
In response, Brussels claims that His proposal “is based on a thorough analysis” of the current situation and the data obtained, as well as reports that show “increasing conflicts” between the wolf and “human activities”. “This changed reality on the ground justifies the proposal,” the spokesperson argued. When it presented the proposal last year, Brussels claimed that the wolf’s protection status had been adopted in 1979 – under the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Fauna, Flora and Natural Habitats – taking into account the scientific data available at the time of negotiations.
