France’s five-year plan for wolves from 2024, due to be formally presented by the government next week and seen by Euractiv on Thursday, sides with the European Commission in calling for a review of the animal’s protection status and seeks to give more support to farmers.
Presented to MPs and the press on Thursday, the outlines of France’s fifth wolf plan aim to improve the protection of livestock farmers in the event of wolf attacks on their animals, at a time when attacks have increased by 20% in just one year.
Under the strategy, the French government will introduce “simpler and faster authorisation procedures” for farmers to request defensive shooting derogations, referring to the Council of Europe’s Bern Convention and the EU’s Habitats Directive, under which shooting is allowed in exceptional cases.
On top of that, the government’s new wolf strategy will also look to provide more dedicated training for “wolf wardens”, who are allowed to carry out the shootings.
The new plan will also provide psychological support for farmers who are victims of wolf predation, in addition to monetary compensation.
“What guides us is science,” the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Ecological Transition, which are about to enter the “experimental” phase of the plan, told journalists.
The new plan’s provisions are expected to be implemented soon in an effort to “adapt quickly to the demographic evolution of wolves and the number of attacks”, though this will also depend on certain situations. EU data will be used by the French authorities where necessary.
In other words, the government is siding with the Commission, which in early September proposed a review of the Habitats Directive to change the wolf’s protection status.
“If science says that the wolf is in a good state of conservation, there is no problem in changing its status”, ministry officials told Euractiv. The wolf would in turn move from a “strict” protection status to a looser one.
“This does not mean that it will no longer be protected,” they added while admitting that it will be “a little easier to shoot”.
The details of the plan will be unveiled by the government on 18 September.
There are 1,104 wolves in France, spread over 55 counties, compared with around 20,000 in the EU, according to the latest official figures.
(Hugo Struna | Euractiv.fr)
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