The Environmental Pillar, the Environmental NGO advocacy coalition, is supporting calls to reverse the downgrade on wolf protections which was agreed under the Bern Convention in December.
The decision to downgrade the status of the wolf lacks scientific justification, undermines decades of conservation efforts and sets a dangerous precedent for wildlife protection across Europe, according to a letter signed by the Environmental Pillar and 80 other environmental, nature conservation and animal welfare groups.
It said that these issues have been highlighted by hundreds of scientists and academics across Europe and worldwide as well as by the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe.
The letter, which was sent to the Contracting Parties of the Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, calls on it to withdraw the decision to lower the protection status of the wolf.
“The EU proposal relied on a non-peer-reviewed report produced by a consultancy, commissioned and funded for by the European Commission,” the letter says. “The scientific evidence produced by the Scientific Community countered the Commission and EU Council’s claims that a downlisting was necessary. Ignoring such expert recommendations not only has jeopardised wolf populations but has also undermined the integrity of science-based decision making, which should be the basis of any proposal for changes to the Convention.”
It adds: “The wolf downgrade has clearly demonstrated that it is too simple to withdraw needed protection to an apex species under the Bern Convention due only to EU politics when civil society at large and the European scientific community have demanded the opposite.”
Fintan Kelly, Agriculture and Land Use Policy and Advocacy Officer with the Environmental Pillar, said: “The proposal to lower the protection status of the Wolf under the Bern Convention is a politically motivated U-turn away from a compassionate & science-based approach to nature conservation. This sets a very worrying precedent away from democratic, fact-based decision making. The recovery of Wolf populations across Europe is helping to restore balance to broken ecosystems. Persecuting wolves will reverse this process at a time when nature restoration is more critical than ever. It also makes the EU a hypocrite on the world stage.
The letter is also addressed to the Secretary General of Council of Europe, President of the Assembly of the Council of Europe, Secretary of the Bern Convention, as well as its Bureau and Standing Committee, and Jessica Roswall, European Commissioner for the Environment, Water and Circular Economy and Florika Fink-Hooijer Director -General DG Environment (European Commission) and relevant Officials EU Ombudsman.
It also calls for reform of the Bern Convention processes to make it credible again and a review of the internal decision-making process to protect its independence, integrity and legitimacy as the cornerstone European Convention for the conservation of species and habitats.