Dear President von der Leyen,

With this letter, I would like to give my full support to the proposal to change the wolf’s protection status within the EU. For me, it is obvious that the protection status of a species must reflect the population’s real conservation needs. If a population of a species has reached and exceeded favourable conservation status, it should no longer be listed as strictly protected. Not allowing the protection status to amended based on how populations evolve also means that species that are doing poorly do not get the protection they need.

Against this background, it is important that a species such as the wolf, but also the bear and lynx, having reached favourable conservation status be moved to Annex V of the EU Habitats Directive.
Such move poses no threat to the populations of these carnivore species as Member States are still under an obligation to maintain favourable conservation status. Importantly, it allows the management of the species, and increases the citizens’ trust in the EU and the Habitats Directive as a whole.

In Sweden, where I live, we have seen an increasing and expanding wolf population for forty years. From having been mainly present in the central parts of Sweden, the wolf is now spreading to the more densely populated areas of the country. This rapid expansion is and will inevitably further lead to increasing conflicts and very high costs for farmers and also for me as a hunter.

Sweden is a northern European country with significantly lower densities of the species that are prey for the wolf. For example, in large parts of Sweden the ungulate populations are only one tenth as dense as in the southern parts of Europe.

Sweden, together with Finland, are the only countries in the EU that have strong populations of all four large carnivores, bear, wolf, lynx and wolverine.

In view of all this, I would strongly urge you and the Commission to close the infringement case against Sweden with regards to the licensed wolf hunt. This case has been allowed to continue for almost 13 years, obstructing my country’s possibility to effectively manage the species and dealing with damages caused. It is unreasonable that Sweden’s large carnivore management should be under constant threat from the Commission when Sweden has clearly shown that the populations are in no way threatened. Swedish citizens affected by the species expect legal certainty and not to be held in this legal limbo.

Large carnivore management cannot, as the protectionist organisations want, be about maximising the populations at any cost. It is about finding a balance between on the one hand the species and on the other hand the socio-economic interests that exist in a human-dominated landscape.

I thank you for your interest on this important and urgent issue for many affected citizens across our continent.

Sincerely,

Namn:
Ort:
Län:
Sweden

Svaret skickas till: EC-WOLF-DATA-COLLECTION@ec.europa.eu senast den 22 september.

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