Wolves abandoned: Press release
By adopting Article 14, which was significantly toughened during the debates, MPs have paved the way for an unprecedented weakening of wolf protection in France. For One Voice, this vote constitutes a major attack on a protected and vulnerable species. The text has yet to be examined by the Senate, and our organisation continues to campaign to prevent an eradication policy from becoming the state’s official response to a problem whose causes run much deeper.
By adopting Article 14 of the draft bill on agricultural protection and sovereignty, the National Assembly has taken an unprecedented step in its determination to wipe out wolves in France.
Presented by the government as a bid to strike a balance between the interests of livestock farmers and the preservation of biodiversity, Article 14 in reality paves the way for a derogation scheme specifically designed to target wolves, in stark contrast to that applicable to other protected species.
Whilst it was initially intended merely to provide a legal basis for provisions that we were already contesting, the text was considerably toughened during parliamentary debates. Several particularly worrying amendments were adopted, including:
- authorisation for defensive shooting without prior notification in certain cases of ‘self-defence’;
- the possibility of killing wolves within national parks and nature reserves;
- authorisation to shoot cattle and horse herds on the contested grounds that they are ‘unprotectable’;
- the use of thermal imaging goggles by holders of hunting licences who have received specific training.
Even more worrying is that no provision in the text refers to livestock protection measures. At no point does the law mention support for livestock farmers or the development of preventive measures. All references to management measures relate exclusively to shooting devices and ‘culling’ schemes.
Making wolves scapegoats will not resolve the agricultural crisis
For One Voice, this legislation illustrates the gradual abandonment of wolves by the authorities. Faced with a deep-seated and multifaceted agricultural crisis, the government and a large majority of MPs have chosen to blame the wolves, rather than tackling the structural causes of the difficulties faced by the agricultural sector.
Yet the available scientific evidence shows that culling is ineffective in permanently reducing attacks on livestock. Instead, these culls directly contribute to the decline of a wolf population that remains far below the viability threshold, estimated at between 2,500 and 5,000 individuals. The French population is currently estimated at just over 1,000 wolves.
The organisation also points out that cattle and horse herds are not officially recognised as ‘unprotectable’ and that several public reports have questioned the technical validity of this concept.
‘No government has gone this far in its determination to wipe out a species that is vital to nature and biodiversity. Whilst wolves play an essential role in ecosystems and are rightfully protected, politicians are choosing to kowtow to lobbies that seek only their own short-term profits, trampling on our children’s heritage and the views of the vast majority of French people who love wolves and want to see them living in peace in our countryside’, says Muriel Arnal, Chair of One Voice.
The National Assembly’s vote is merely the first stage of the legislative process. The bill must now be examined by the Senate in the coming weeks before its final adoption, expected in the summer.