A large majority in the Provincial Council wants the extra money needed for wolf-resistant fences to be taken from the joint pot of money for nature and agriculture. This must be at the expense of natural resources. But the latter is not possible.
The Provincial Executive must also see whether money can be obtained from the government because they believe that the wolf is a national problem.
BBB nature representative Egbert van Dijk takes the 3.3 million euros from a pot of money for which there is no destination yet. reserve money. That is against the sore leg of his own BBB and the VVD. The VVD submitted a motion that received a large majority.
Deputy Van Dijk will now see whether it is possible in the future to obtain money from the Rural Area Program (agriculture and nature) and will also talk to The Hague for extra wolf money. According to Van Dijk, European money may also come in the future.
BBB, VVD and PVV want the wolf-resistant fences to only be paid for with money that is explicitly intended for nature, because the wolf is ‘a nature problem’. Part of the opposition wants it not to come from the nature fund, but to be paid for with agricultural money. Protecting livestock is an agricultural problem, they believe.
Van Dijk cannot do both now. The wolf-resistant grids are included in the provincial Rural Area Program, which concerns both nature and agriculture. According to him, if extra money comes from The Hague or Brussels in the future, especially for the wolf, it will only go there.
The province will increase the budget for wolf-based grids by more than 3.3 million euros. This is necessary to help all 438 subsidy applicants (often sheep farmers) obtain wolf-resistant fences. These grids must meet certain requirements. For example, a grid must be at least 120 centimeters high and must contain electrical wires.
According to the Provincial Executive, the approach works with wolf-resistant grids. The province itself conducted a trial between October 2024 and May 2025. “During this trial, 114 mobile wire fences were installed in areas with wolves for professional sheep and goat farmers. During this period, more than 10,000 animals were protected from wolf attacks,” GS writes.
The council continues: “During that period, only one wolf attack took place within a grid of the practical test. However, measurements showed that there was not sufficient power on this grid during the evening hours, making the attack explainable.”
If fewer sheep are killed by wolves, the province will also have to pay less compensation to farmers. The dead sheep are currently still reimbursed by the province, but that may change in the future. The province is considering only providing compensation to farmers who have an approved wolf-resistant fence around their pasture.
The coalition and part of the opposition are diametrically opposed to each other regarding the wolf. The coalition with support from the PVV wants to make Drenthe a wolf-free region and hunt the animal. But despite the weakened protected status of the wolf, hunting or making Drenthe wolf-free is not permitted according to the European rules.
The left side of the opposition wants the wolf to remain in Drenthe and for livestock farmers to protect their animals. The Party for the Animals wants deer to no longer be hunted, because these animals are food for the wolf.