Under overskriften “Call to vote no to the Commission’s proposal to downgrade the wolf’s protection level, under the Bern Convention” sender Ulvetid en opfordring til 22 delegerede ved det stående møde i starten af december i Bern Konventionen. Meddelelsen sendes desuden til 14 miljøministre. De 22 delegerede og 14 ministre er alle fra medlemslande i Bern Konventionen, som IKKE er medlem af EU.
I vores E-mail, som sendes i morgen (mandag) og som sendes personligt til hver enkelt at de delegerede og ministrene, opfordrer vi dem til at stemme NEJ til EU-kommissionens forslag om at nedgradere ulvens fredningsstatus.
Opfordringen kan du se her:
Dear NN
Re.: Wolf protection under the Bern Convention
On behalf of the association Ulvetid, I take the liberty of contacting you regarding the European Union’s proposal to downgrade the wolf’s conservation status from Strictly protected (Appendix II) to Protected (Appendix III) during the Bern Convention at the 44th. meeting of the Standing Committee
If the proposal is adopted, it will have far-reaching consequences not only for the wolves in Europe, but also for nature in general, of which the wolf is a natural part.
The wolves have always been strictly protected on appendix II. This has resulted in a significantly improved situation for wolves in Europe. At present, however, the wolf population has not yet reached the number of wolves that it takes to ensure the species’ survival on a long-term basis. The problem is that the wolves in Europe still live in nine fragmented populations that only exchange genes to a small extent. Five of these populations are red listed as “Near threatened” and one, the Scandinavian, as “Vulnerable”.
There is no scientific evidence to downgrade the wolf’s conservation status. The EU-Commissions arguments to justify the proposal is the same as Switzerland proposed 1 year earlier. The proposal was not adopted because the EU Commission at that time voted against the Swiss proposal itself. According to LCIE1, a specialist group under IUCN2, there have been no notable changes in the wolf situation in Europe in the year between the two proposals. This U-turn in just one year, without any scientific support, indicates that the proposal for the downgrading ultimately originates from the chairman of the EU Commission, who lost her pony to a wolf.
We believe that both the fear of the wolf and the problems with wolf attacks on livestock are problems that we humans can – and must – solve with non-lethal management.
The commission justifies its proposal for the downgrading mainly by a report3 which the commission itself ordered. However, there is not much data in the report to support the suggested downgrade of the wolf’s protection. On the contrary, the report mainly supports the continued strict protection of the wolves in Europe. In the above report, LCIE is used as a source in several places.
However, LCIE believes that their report from 2022 is being misused in the commission’s report. That is why LCIE has written ”Statement on the proposed downlisting of the wolf under the Bern Convention and EU Habitats Directive”, in which they explain several problems. For instance, LCIE writes: “However, the current proposal raises serious questions, inter alia in light of the important principle that decisions on the conservation and management of wildlife be based on sound science, not (just) on political reasons. As elaborated below, at this time, the proposed generic downlisting of the wolf across the continent does not appear warranted.”
I have attached the LCIE statement, which I highly recommend you read. Please be aware that the document is authored by some of the most prominent wolf scientists in Europe. Among others, Luigi Boitani Ilka Reinhardt, Sabina Nowak, Ilpo Kojola, John D. Linnell, Arie Trouwborst and many other highly respected wolf scientists.
With this information, it is our hope that you will consider voting against the proposal to downgrade the wolf under the Bern Convention. It is of utmost importance for the wolf and for the nature in general that the wolves will continue to be classified as a species under the “Strict Protection” Act.
Thank you for your time.
Best regards
Ole Pedersen
Chairman
The association Ulvetid
Maglemosen 1 – 4070 Kr. Hyllinge – Denmark
Tlf.: + 45 60613739
E-mail: formand@ulvetid.dk
Website: www.ulvetid.dk
Wolf in Denmark – Naturally
1: Large Carnivore Initiative Europe, a specialist group under IUCN which consists of the most prominent wolf researchers in Europe
2: International Union for Conservation of Nature
3: The situation of the wolf (Canis lupus) in the European Union, An In-depth analysis
