This is a joint statement from the major youth organizations that work on biodiversity at the European level, the Youth & Environment Europe network, the Global Youth Biodiversity Network Europe, Biodiversity Action Europe, and the European Young Rewilders network.
As young people, we are beyond stunned to see that European countries support lowering the protection status of wolves in Europe, paving the way for increased wolf hunting in the 21st century. Following almost a year since the Commission’s proposal to downgrade the wolf status in Europe, the final vote has been cast, flushing decades of conservation work, money and science down the drain. And, once again, it is us, young people, that will face the consequences of this unscientific and irresponsible decision in the future.
On December 3rd, at the 44th Standing Committee Meeting of the Bern Convention in Strasbourg, the proposal to downlist the wolf was welcomed with a staggering 38 countries voting in favor. We must also acknowledge the following countries for opposing this proposal and voicing their concern regarding the evidence presented (or lack thereof) and for noting the troubling precedent this decision sets: The United Kingdom, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Monaco, Albania and Montenegro. We urgently call upon these same countries to again voice their opposition before this decision comes into force in 3 months and for others to join them.
Fearmongering, hate and the spread of misinformation in Europe seem to have become common in narratives around conservation. Coexistence measures and modern technology, in which many young Europeans are now involved, are effective means of reducing human-wildlife conflict across the continent, and this is what European institutions should promote.
It is disconcerting how easily the European Union has ignored repeated calls to reason by citizens and scientists alike, in favour of political interests. Even in Strasbourg, interventions made by multiple NGOs present as observers in the 44th Standing Committee Meeting went ignored (Pro Natura, Birdlife International, Born Free Foundation).
Ashton Melfor (Youth and Environment Europe delegate present at the meeting): “As a young person from a country where most of my generation did not grow up with these amazing animals, this is not the right step toward coexistence with large carnivores, and nature as a whole. This clearly politically motivated decision undermines the European commitment to the biodiversity crisis and the ability of the Bern Convention to provide adequate protection for the other species listed on its appendices.”
This move, which makes the wolves scapegoats and will not fix the struggles of rural areas finding it difficult to coexist with these animals, not only jeopardises the ecological functioning of European ecosystems, but also sets a very dangerous precedent on how fragile European laws and democracy are in front of lobbying by few.
As European youth, we hold all relevant decision-makers accountable for this grave backsliding in European conservation law. We call for the return of scientific reason and intergenerational fairness on the decision-making table. We wish to see this decision not to be applied in EU law, and to be reversed as soon as possible.
Read the first youth position here.