Bern Convention Committee investigates Swiss wolf policy
Published: Friday, Dec 6th 2024, 14:30
العودة إلى البث المباشر
The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention in the Council of Europe has decided to initiate an investigation into Switzerland's wolf shooting policy. A complaint by two Swiss wolf conservation organizations was upheld.
The main point of criticism from CH-Wolf and Avenir Loup Lynx Jura (ALLJ) regarding the current wolf management by the Swiss authorities is the arbitrary definition of five regulation regions with a threshold of twelve packs throughout Switzerland, as Christina Steiner, President of CH-Wolf told Keystone-SDA on Friday.
They also criticize the lowered kill numbers and the preventive culls and pack regulations, solely to avoid possible damage in the future. "In our opinion, such an approach is clearly not compatible with the Bern Convention", both organizations emphasized in a press release.
Swiss wolf policy remains in focus
The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention apparently shared the concerns and decided unanimously on Thursday to open a corresponding investigation dossier. This means that Switzerland will have to report again on its wolf management at the next meeting in spring 2025.
In addition to the two wolf conservation organizations, the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) was also heard at the meeting in Strasbourg. The FOEN's presentation was met with great skepticism by the participating countries, explained CH-Wolf and ALLJ.
At least 20 packs form the scientific basis
Just on Tuesday, the same committee of the Council of Europe lowered the protection status of the wolf from "strictly protected" to "protected" at the behest of a two-thirds majority of its member states.
According to the two wolf conservation organizations, the spokesperson for Germany in particular emphasized on Thursday that the downgrading of wolf protection is not a free pass to shoot wolves en masse and that the wolf remains a protected animal. Moreover, even with the protected status, a favorable conservation status of at least 20 packs in Switzerland remains the scientific basis.
The Bern Convention is an international treaty adopted in 1979 for the protection of wild animals and plants. Switzerland is a member of the Council of Europe and has ratified the Convention.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish