163: The EU Review of Wolf Protection Status
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3TIXgTU3Rd1Lcn2moMsz0l
The human-wildlife conflict with wolves has been brewing on the ground in the EU for some time. On the one hand, it has been fueled by a remarkable recovery of wolves across the continent, and on the other, by politicians trying to hijack it for their political gains. In September 2023 the European Commission invited “local communities, scientists and all interested parties” to submit the latest data in order to review the conservation status of wolves and decide whether to downgrade the conservation status of the species. Predictably this has sparked a lot of debate with clear demarcation lines between factions.
https://youtu.be/oITfPp9o3ac
To deal with this topic I decided to change the format of the podcast and in this episode, you will hear from not one but five experts in their fields. I felt the subject is so complex that to present it in the most comprehensive and objective way we need to hear all the relevant voices. By listening to this episode you will hear opinions on this topic from a wildlife biologist, Professor John Linnell, a goat breeder, Bruno Lecomte, a social scientist, Professor Erica von Essen, an environmentalist, the Head of EU Policy at BirdLife International, Ariel Brunner and, last but not least, the Secretary General of the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation, Dr David Scallan. Special thanks to hunting journalist and blogger Denis Plat for his help in ensuring that opinions from rural France were voiced. Cover photo courtesy of Alick Simmons.
While making this episode I recorded many hours of material and understandably not all of it made it into the episode. If you would be interested in listening to the individual interviews with the guests in this podcast, please click here.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the individual participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organisation. The participants are expressing their personal opinions and perspectives.
Further reading on the subject of this episode:
Wolves in Europe: Commission urges local authorities to make full use of existing derogations and collects data for conservation status review
European Predation Map – courtesy of Bruno Lecomte
Attitudes towards returning wolves
Changes to the protection status of wolves?
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