Bears in Trentino, deer in Abruzzo... we missed the wolf:Europe is open to culling

Member states have approved the European Commission's proposal to downgrade the status of the wolf from "strictly protected" to simply "protected".The WWF complaint

ROME – At today's meeting of the Permanent Representatives in Brussels, the qualified majority of EU member states approved the European Commission's proposal aimed at downgrading the protection status of the wolf from “strictly protected” to simply “protected”. within the framework of the Convention on the Conservation of Wild Life and Natural Habitats in Europe (so-calledBerne Convention).The proposal was approved following the German Government's decision to vote in favor, rather than abstain as done so far.

“The Italian Government, by voting in favor of the proposal, confirms its anachronistic and ideological position on the protection of biodiversity in Europe and in Italy.A very serious decision dangerously opens the door to wolf culling in Europe and ignores the appeal of over 300 civil society organizations and hundreds of thousands of people who have urged governments to follow the recommendations of science and intensify efforts to encourage coexistence with large carnivores through preventive measures", denounces the WWF .

“The decision of the member states is the sad epilogue of the personal battle of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, incredibly based on a personal revenge against wolves and aimed at pleasing a part of the agricultural sector”, stigmatizes the WWF.

“Today's decision not only undermines decades of dedicated conservation efforts, but also represents a significant setback to what is considered one of the European Union's most significant successes for wildlife conservation:the return of the wolf to Europe.Science shows that wolf recovery is still an ongoing process, and the key objectives of the Bern Convention and the Habitats Directive have not yet been achieved,” laments the Panda association.

The proposal will now be formally adopted during the next meeting of the Council of the European Union tomorrow 26 September, to allow the European Commission to present it to the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention.The EU will support the proposal as a unified bloc for the final vote in the Standing Committee scheduled for December.

“The decision to downgrade the protection status of the wolf is a very bad signal towards the crucial negotiations that will take place at the COP16 on Biodiversity in Cali at the end of October.What is at stake goes beyond the protection of the wolf, since the legal implications of the Commission's proposal could have far-reaching consequences - reports Dante Caserta, Head of Legal and Institutional Affairs of WWF Italy - The Bern Convention, which concerns the entire continent European Union and not just EU Member States, serves as a crucial safeguard against attempts to weaken the protection of species under EU law.Weakening the Convention could significantly undermine the foundations of the regulatory framework for European nature conservation.
The vote in favor of Italy confirms an ideological position of our Government against nature and against scientific data.As WWF Italy we will firmly oppose any attempt to dismantle the protection of biodiversity in our country."