The 49 member states of the Berne Convention have decided that the wolf will no longer be a species “strictly protected” but only “protected”. For the South Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region it is a real satisfaction. “We fought for this decision from Europe for a long time and we succeeded.” Bénédicte Martin, the vice-president of the Southern Region in charge of agriculture, explains why it was “the right decision to take to protect our breeders on our territory”.
Special shots to protect breeders already exist in France. What will this change in the status of the wolf change?
This change has very concrete implications. From now on, prefects will have the possibility of more easily issuing orders authorizing the taking of wolves. This will help regulate their numbers. Our breeders needed this strong signal.
To what extent are wolves present in the south of France?
Of the 1,200 people recorded at the national level (21,000 at the European level), two thirds are in the Southern Region. And the transalpine arc is the only place where the wolf breeds, so the packs are here. In the space of 15 years, it has experienced exponential progression here and caused equally exponential damage to breeders. We are a region of extensive pastoralism, which means that it is practiced in freedom. This represents significant food potential for wolves.
How many attacks have there been in our region in recent years?
60% of attacks at the national level are here. In 2022 we had almost 4,300 damage reports, or almost 2,900 in our country. This represents 13,300 animals killed in France. Count it up here: that’s almost 9,000, the vast majority of them sheep. The impact is enormous.
The associations say that scaring measures are not used as they should be?
At the national level, we have put 35 million euros, and only 19 in our region, for prevention. It's a bottomless pit, we always put more and yet there are no results.
With this downgrading, it is no longer a question of defending oneself against the wolf but of regulating its growth?
That's it. We are moving from a logic of protection to a logic of regulation of the wolf species to allow eco-pastoral activities to survive.
Concretely how will this happen?
Until now we had defensive shootings with a harvest rate set by the State at 19% of the total number of wolves. We will move on to sampling shots. The modalities are still to be defined with a national and undoubtedly regional variation. But the paradigm shift has taken place.
Are the scare measures still being maintained?
They are with the protective measures. And thanks to population regulation, they will be much more efficient. And we will continue to help our breeders in this sense.
The associations highlight the risk of seeing the species disappear again from our territories.
We speak of a state of genetic viability when we count 500 species. We have more than twice as many in France, and 800 in our country alone. So today the wolf is in a state of genetic viability and therefore it is not threatened. From there we can regulate its population without endangering the species. Today, what is dangerous, however, is pastoralism.
Are you worried that the wolf poses a greater threat?
Today he is clearly a threat to shepherds and their flocks. But if it became more invasive, and we see that it is getting closer to the centers of life, we would not be safe from a human tragedy. This is not an illusion, it is quite alarming.
