The European Parliament voted to downgrade wolves’ conservation status from “strictly protected” to “protected” on 8 May, a move welcomed by agricultural co-ops but criticised by environmental groups.
Proposed by the European Commission, the amendment to the Habitats Directive regarding the protection status of the wolf was adopted with 371 votes in favour, 162 against, and 37 abstentions.
Copa and Cogeca, the voice of European farmers and their co-ops, said the vote “marks a significant and long-overdue development in enabling EU member states and other European countries to apply effective management and monitoring of growing wolf populations across the continent”.
The two apexes argued that “relying exclusively on derogations for capturing, relocating, or culling wolves is no longer a sustainable approach”.
Since the adoption of the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (1979), referred to as the Bern Convention, the number of wolves is estimated to have grown by at least 25% over the last decade.
“Derogations are, by nature, exceptional and reactive,” added Copa and Cogeca, calling for a shift toward “a science-based and proactive management model – one that ensures not only the stability of the wolf population, but also its long-term genetic health through controlled and active management.”
The apexes added that farmers and rural communities are directly affected by increasing wolf populations and the lack of appropriate tools to manage the species, adding that they welcomed the EU institutions’ response to their concerns.
“Today’s vote in Parliament is an important step,” they added, “but the decisive moment will come in the Council, when member states must now endorse this amendment.
“Copa and Cogeca call on all member states to act with the same urgency as the European Parliament and to work closely with local stakeholders in developing effective, pragmatic management plans. Only through such collaboration can we achieve true coexistence between humans and large carnivores in Europe’s rural areas.”
According to a 2022 EU study, the EU has 20,356 wolves, grouped into nine populations, five of which were considered “near threatened” and one “vulnerable”. Wolf attacks on people are extremely rare, the study adds, with only six between 2002 and 2020 and no fatal attacks recorded in Europe over the last 40 years. On the other hand, it finds that attacks on livestock and pets have resulted in €18.7m in compensation for their owners.
Among those affected was the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, whose pet pony was killed by a wolf in 2022.
Related: Agri co-ops welcome EU proposal to amend wolf conservation status
Meanwhile, environment campaigners are criticising the move. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said the decision “marks a worrying precedent for European nature conservation” and pointed out that “the species continues to be in an unfavourable conservation status in six out of seven EU biogeographical regions”.
”Wolves are vital to healthy ecosystems, but today’s vote treats them as a political problem, not an ecological asset”, said Ilaria Di Silvestre, Ifaw’s director of policy and advocacy. ”There is no data justifying a lower level of protection, but the EU institutions decided to ignore science. Decisions made on the basis of political interests, instead of facts, risk undoing decades of conservation progress.”
Ifaw also criticised the European Parliament’s use of an emergency procedure to push this proposal through.
“This trend of speeding up the weakening of nature laws limits democratic debate and threatens the future of environmental protection in Europe,” it added.
“This is a sad day for biodiversity and wild animals,” said Léa Badoz, programme officer at Eurogroup for Animals. “The EU was once proud to lead on nature protection. Now we are seeing vital species like the wolf sacrificed for short-term political interests that will benefit no one. Member states must now step up and do the right thing. Wolves still need strong protection if we are serious about saving Europe’s nature.”
Dr Joanna Swabe, senior director for public affairs at Humane World for Animals, said: “The decision to lower the strict protection status of wolves does not absolve member states from their responsibility to maintain a favourable conservation status for wolves, nor does it mean that they can avoid investing in solutions that facilitate and promote the coexistence of people and wolves.”
With the amendment already approved by the European Council, the directive will enter into force 20 days after it has been published in the EU Official Journal. In spite of the EU’s latest move, member states can still choose to implement stricter protections for wolves under their national law.
