Consultation on wolves
The European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, inviting her to continue with actions, following the recent consultation on wolves in Europe. The letter praises the Commission President for launching the consultation in September, gathering updated data on wolf populations and their impacts, but calls for action on the next steps as soon as possible. As President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has the ability to take this initiative forward. The letter was signed by Torbjörn Larsson, President of FACE, on behalf of FACE members, who represent 7 million hunters in Europe. Larsson called on the President of the Commission to ensure rapid action to establish management plans for coexistence.
What was written to the president
This is the text of the letter:
I would like to commend the European Commission for launching the consultation in September, collecting up-to-date data on wolf populations and their impacts. This is an important step, in line with the requests expressed by the European Parliament. The large number of responses received demonstrates that the wolf has an impact on rural communities. We believe the majority of those who engaged did so because they felt their voices were not being heard, probably accounting for 90%+ of responses. However, we urge you to move quickly to the next stage to put in place practical solutions that ensure appropriate management frameworks to ensure coexistence. Successful management systems continue to struggle with the Habitats Directive's interpretation of 'strict protection', combined with confusion over the difficulty of applying 'flexibility'.
Practical solutions
We hope that practical solutions will be identified, some of which are already in place before the next European elections. In our opinion, the EU needs a “large carnivore package” to:
Amend the annexes of the Habitats Directive;
Clarify the flexibility of the EU guidance document on strict protection, so that this document reflects and gives real meaning to your recent statements, in particular in your press release on “Wolves in Europe” of 4 September 2023;
Implement a new approach to assess the conservation status of the wolf in line with its transboundary ecology (source: FIDC).