Drenthe deputy Egbert van Dijk (BBB) is pleased with the research that the European Commission is going to conduct into weakening the protection status of the wolf. A spokesman for the province said this. Although it is not yet clear whether the laws and regulations will be amended, the province says it advocates lowering the level of protection for the wolf.
Yesterday, the European Commission announced that it would investigate whether and where it would be good to limit the number of wolves to prevent attacks on livestock or even humans. The committee will therefore consider “a proposal to change the protection status of the wolf in the EU where appropriate,” said chair Ursula von der Leyen. The proposal will “introduce more flexibility where necessary in light of the evolution of this species”. Shooting wolves is still prohibited in almost all cases.
In February this year, the province of Drenthe, together with the provinces of Friesland and Overijssel, asked the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality to share the concerns of the provinces about the return of the wolf with the European Commission. “Now the European Commission offers the opportunity to share our concerns directly with them,” says a spokesman for the province of Drenthe.
The province of Drenthe, together with other provinces, will send a response to the European Commission, says the spokesperson. “We will advocate urging the European Commission to adjust European legislation in such a way that the level of protection of the wolf is lowered, so that more (management) measures can be taken with regard to the wolf.”
Sander Crasborn of IPC de Groene Ruimte, an organization that advises municipalities and ministries in the field of fauna management, does not expect much to change in the short term in the approach to the wolf. “Something may change internationally. However, we still have our national regulations, and for the time being there are no compelling legal reasons to change those rules. And if anything changes, preventive measures are first considered to prevent danger. of the wolf. Any killing of the wolf is always the last resort.”
The wolf has become a danger to humans and animals in some parts of Europe, von der Leyen argued, and Crasborn agrees. “In some parts of Europe, cattle roam freely in the pastures, and it is just very difficult to protect these animals. So you have a chance that they will be attacked by the wolf.” Still, Crasborn emphasizes that no dramatic incidents have yet happened between the wolf and man.
In the longer term, Crasborn does not yet dare to say whether anything will actually change in the approach to the wolf. According to him, “that is really watching coffee grounds at the moment.”