EU Parliament votes to weaken wolf protection
The European Parliament has voted to downgrade the legal protection status of the wolf, paving the way for more liberalised population control measures by national governments. The decision moves the species from 'strictly protected' to 'protected' under the EU's Habitats Directive - a change that conservation groups warn could undermine decades of ecological recovery.
The vote passed with 371 in favour, 162 against and 37 abstentions. Once formally approved by the Council of the European Union, member states will have 18 months to bring their national laws into line with the new classification. However, countries retain the right to maintain stricter protections in national law.
Fragile status
It is this stricter protection that has allowed wolf populations to recover in parts of Europe in recent decades. But conservationists and scientists stress that the species' status remains fragile in most regions, with small, isolated populations still vulnerable to persecution, habitat loss and road mortality.
Downgrading wolf protection is a political move disguised as policy
“Downgrading wolf protection is a political move disguised as policy," says a coalition of NGOs including WWF EU, BirdLife Europe, ClientEarth and the European Environmental Bureau. "It ignores science, fuels division, and jeopardises one of Europe’s greatest conservation successes. European leaders must fulfil their duty to the public by defending nature, not sacrificing it for political gains,” they argue.
Today’s vote is a clear recognition that conservation policy must evolve alongside ecological realities
Laurens Hoedemaker, president of the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE), says that lowering protection "will reduce some heavy bureaucratic and legal conflicts associated with ‘strict protection’." Jurgen Tack, Secretary General of the European Landowners' Organisation (ELO), adds that "today’s vote is a clear recognition that conservation policy must evolve alongside ecological realities."
Precedent
This is the first time that the EU's Habitats Directive, adopted in 1992, will be amended. For more than three decades, the directive has been the cornerstone of European biodiversity policy and has remained legally intact despite repeated political pressure. Conservationists are now warning that this vote could set a precedent, raising concerns that further changes could follow during the current EU mandate.
© Julian Stratenschulte / dpa / AFP
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