The EU lowers the protection of wolves with the favorable vote of the Italian government

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the European Union (COREPER) approved yesterday in Brussels a proposal from the European Commission to reduce the level of protection for wolves.The objective is in fact to downgrading the wolf species from “particularly protected” to only “protected”, an indispensable element to facilitate - through the introduction of hunting quotas - the culling of specimens when they are considered too numerous.The turning point came following the decision of the German executive, which had previously opted for abstention, to vote in favour.Among the entities that supported the measure, there is also the Italian government.To be finally approved, the proposal will have to get the green light from the Convention for the Conservation of Wild Life and its Habitats in Europe, also known as the Bern Convention.

During the vote, there were a total of 21 votes in favour.According to diplomatic sources, only Spain and Ireland voted against the proposal.However, four ambassadors from EU countries - specifically Cyprus, Slovenia, Malta and Belgium - abstained.The adjustment of the predator's protection status is expected to be granted to individual states greater flexibility to "deal with the most difficult cases of coexistence between wolves and communities";In short, the provision opens up greater room for maneuver for state administrations to capture and kill animals.The proposal will be formally approved without obstacles today, in order to allow the European Commission to officially present it to the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention.Commenting on the news, the Italian WWF delegation has spoke of a "very serious decision that dangerously opens the door to wolf culling in Europe", ignoring 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 others intensify efforts to encourage coexistence with large carnivores" through "preventive measures".The organization added that the vote in favor of Italy "confirms an ideological position of our Government against nature and against scientific data".

The European Commission had proposed to change the protection status of the wolf last December.The loss of the adverb would thus open the door to hunting, albeit with the limitations imposed by the Member States as they are still "obliged to ensure that it is achieved and maintained a favorable conservation status for populations in their biogeographical regions». Second the EU executive, there would be over 20,000 wolf specimens present in European territory, a number that represents "a victory for the conservation of the species" but also "a risk for livestock and rural communities".For months, animal rights associations have been on a war footing against the proposal.The WWF, which immediately spoke of an actual lack of scientific evidence to support the decision, had explicitly accused the President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen - recently re-elected in the same position following the last European elections - of «sacrificing the conservation successes for their own political gain».Von der Leyen was in fact directly affected by the story, since a pony she owned was killed by a wolf on 1 September 2022.

[by Stefano Baudino]