For wolves threatened by the European Union: vote on December 3 at the Council of Europe
On September 25, the European Union accepted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to downgrade the protection status of wolves from “strictly protected” to “protected”. This decision will be put to the vote of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention on Tuesday December 3. Time is running out for these vulnerable animals, which have their rightful place in the wild.
One Voice is calling for a general mobilization to defend them, as the next few days will be crucial !
Wolves are decidedly the “pet peeves” to be slaughtered. The farming and hunting lobbies – over-powerful in our country – have put enough pressure on the European Union to demand that they be downgraded from the list of strictly protected species in the Bern Convention, in order to kill them more and more. This decision, which is likely to be adopted on December 3, is both ethically and scientifically scandalous.
The European Commission has provided no arguments to “justify” such a relentless attack on animals that are the guarantors of biodiversity, and whose numbers remain extremely fragile. There are only political reasons at work : the aim is to buy peace with farmers. Nothing else.
Scapegoats
Constantly targeted by livestock farmers, wolves have become their punching bags, as if they were the main culprits behind economic difficulties beyond their control. Yet farmers can benefit from financial support in many ways to coexist peacefully with wolves. But few professionals take the trouble to implement these measures. They prefer to cry or rant when some of their ewes are attacked when unprotected and… destined for the slaughterhouse.
In France, prefects are already granting illegal authorizations to shoot wolves with their eyes closed, without even looking to see if any means of protection have actually been implemented. The laissez-faire attitude is such that the Coordination rurale de Haute-Vienne syndicate is even inciting to poach wild canids. Hatred is no longer even concealed : on the contrary, it’s claimed ! When you think about it, wolves are responsible for only 0.15% of sheep losses, while losses due to other factors (transport accidents, falls, disease, etc.) are ten times higher.
In addition to the unfounded hatred of breeders, there is that of hunters who have no qualms about accusing wolves of stealing “their” prey! It’s well known that there’s no better guardian of nature than a human with a gun…
Downgrading decried by the scientific community and public opinion
While more than 4 out of 5 French people believe that the return of wolves to our country represents a real benefit for biodiversity (according to our just-published Ipsos/One Voice survey – November 2024), a global scientific consensus is emerging on the dangers and illegitimacy of reducing their protection. Over 500 European researchers and academics from a wide range of disciplines have signed two declarations opposing their downgrading by the Bern Convention. The Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe is also opposed to it, expressing its concern that no significant increase in either wolf numbers or damage to livestock has yet been observed.
At the same time, an article written by a specialist in cohabitation with wolves has been signed by numerous scientists, academics and eminent personalities, and distributed and supported by the CAP Loup collective, of which we are a member.
Believing the absurdities hammered home by the farming lobby, the decision to downgrade wolf protection under the Bern Convention would also flout public opinion by ignoring the many alerts issued by civil society, including that of three hundred associations, including One Voice, sent out at the initiative of the European Environmental Bureau in September. According to our survey, nearly 70% of French people do not want the European Union to downgrade the status of wolves from “strictly protected” to “protected”.
Several actions are planned next week to defend wolves : join us !
After co-signing with several European NGOs an open letter to the Secretary of the Bern Convention and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and independently sending letters to Monaco and Andorra urging them not to accept the downgrading, One Voice will be present in front of the Council of Europe on December 3 from 2pm to 4pm with its French and international partners1.
We have set up a coordinated national action by our volunteers “Will wolf protection soon be lifted ? Stop the massacre !” from November 23 to December 7. Rallies are planned in a dozen towns across France.
If you can’t join us in Strasbourg or any of the other French towns where our campaigners will be present, you can of course sign our petition for the wolves.
We also invite you to take part in the #RespectPourLoups campaign on X, by sharing a daily tweet setting the record straight on French people’s opinion on wolves:
- The majority of French people say that tales and legends have influenced their perception of wolves, and 65% are aware that these representations don’t really coincide with reality. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
- More than 8 out of 10 French people consider that the presence of wolves in France does not represent a risk to themselves and their families. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
- Wolves are essential to ecosystems: 81% of French people think that the return of wolves to France represents a real benefit for biodiversity. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
- Respondents are fiercely opposed to measures jeopardizing the conservation of wolves in France: 83% of French people are against the total eradication of wolves in France. #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
- 84% of French people deplore the fact that wolf attacks happen against unprotected flocks or flocks that lack effective protection. #RespectPourLesLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
- AGAINST the downgrading of wolves : 86% of French people do not want the European Union to downgrade the protection status of wolves, as this would lead to a relaxation of regulations for killing them #RespectPourLoups @IpsosFrance https://one-voice.fr/news/enquete-sur-lopinion-des-francais-a-legard-des-loups/
1 – Action partners :
269 Life France
AAC – Animal Activism Collective
AJAS
Alliance Ethique
Animal Alliance Network
Animal Cross
Animal Friends Croatia
Animal Liberation Malta
Animal Save Colmar
Animal Save France
Animal Save Global
Animal Save Sète
Animaux et Humains
ASPA Vosges
ASPAS
AVES France
Casa Vegana
Collectif Renard et Blaireau
CRAC Europe
Diffusion V Luxembourg
Dominion Australie
Dominion France
DxE Ciudad de Mexico
Education Ethique Animale
Ethics for animal
Eurogroup for Animals
FAADA
Férus
Focale pour le sauvage
Free life
Gaia
Galop
HSI
IFAW
La voix des loups
LAEO France (Association TERRE Lawrence Anthony)
Legambiente
Luontoliiton susiryhmä – The Wolf Action Group
PACCT
PAZ
Plant Based Treatment France
Plant Based Treatment Global
Pôle Grand Prédateur
SIPE
Un jour un chasseur
Vegan Life Athen
VSL – Vegan Society Luxembourg
The vote to downgrade wolves has passed. Our indignation is total, and our action far from over !
Our indignation is total : political interests serving the intensive agricultural and hunting lobbies have taken precedence over the imperative necessity to protect biodiversity and nature for future generations. Despite scientific consensus, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention has just more or less voted for the death of wolves in Europe, giving in to the agricultural lobbies and hunters.
One wolf in 5 is condemned to be killed before their protection is lowered. What do these intensive farmers want ? Intensify the disappearance of animals and continue to lay down the law in Brussels and Paris…
5 countries opposed the downgrading: United Kingdom, Monaco (to whom we had written), Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosnia-Herzegovina tried unsuccessfully to postpone the vote for a year. 2 abstained: Tunisia and Turkey.
All the others chose to downgrade the protection status of wolves from “strictly protected” to “protected”.
With our international partners, we are studying all possible avenues of recourse. We won’t stop there for the wolves.