After the decision of the Berne Convention to weaken the protection of wolves, the Council of States wants consistent implementation in the management of wolf populations in Switzerland. He accepted two motions to this effect.
Several senators from mountain regions welcomed on Tuesday with undisguised pleasure the decision of the Council of Europe on the downgrading of the protection of the wolf, announced at the very time of the debate on the predator. One of the motions specifically asked the Federal Council to work to demote the wolf from “strictly protected species of fauna” to “protected species of fauna” in the Berne Convention.
The text, accepted by 32 votes to 11, should make it possible in the future to regulate the wolf population at regional level. According to this approach, the canid could be hunted in regions where the population reaches a certain threshold value, according to quotas set at the regional level. Finally, the Federal Council is responsible for clarifying the legal question of “zero wolf” zones at the cantonal level.
Beat Rieder appeals to the government
The requested regulation is now possible, welcomed Beat Rieder (Center/VS). Addressing the Federal Council, he added: “You can do it, quickly and efficiently, so that we no longer need to talk about the wolf in this room,” he said . In Valais, the administrative work to remove the wolf has taken on enormous proportions, he added.
With the demotion of the status of the wolf, the appeals of wildlife protection organizations will no longer be able to rely on this convention to oppose shootings, which is good news, also rejoiced Stefan Engler (Center /GR).
For the PS and the Greens, the toughening of shooting conditions requested by the right no longer had to be. Of the current 35 packs, it is already possible to completely eradicate around twenty of them, recalled Mathilde Crevoisier-Crelier (PS/JU). “All the demands of these motions had already been achieved,” the State Councilor confided to our correspondent at the Federal Palace, Marie Vuilleumier.
She called for evaluating the effect of the provisions already adopted before taking new measures. The canine kills fewer livestock thanks to better protection of herds. Most attacks take place on unsupervised animals, added Simon Stocker (PS/ZH).
Federal Council not inactive
Federal Councilor Albert Rösti also defended himself against criticism. The legislation already authorizes shots in heavily affected regions, recalled the head of the Federal Department of the Environment. And a new ordinance along the lines of the motion will come into effect on February 1. “But, over the past year, the explosion in wolf populations has been stopped and the damage caused by wolves has been reduced,” he noted, leaving it open whether the first measures will be enough.
Arguments which have not convinced the majority for whom the recent revision of the hunting law which allows preventive shooting and the modifications provided for in the hunting ordinance are not enough to resolve the wolf problem. The motion will still be submitted to National.
No wolf-free zones
In the process, the Council of States adopted a second motion asking to accelerate the genetic analyzes of the predator and to simplify access to financial support for the protection of herds, as well as compensation for farmers outside the period. of putting in the mountain pastures. The National had already given the green light to the text tabled by Fabio Regazzi (Center/TI) when he was a deputy.
The third motion from the Ticino, who became a senator, was, however, tacitly buried. She wanted to authorize the cantons to create “zero wolf” zones. There is little chance that the wolf, a difficult animal to hunt, will comply with areas prescribed by the authorities, said Benedikt Würth (Center/SG) for the committee. An idea deemed unrealistic by Mathilde Crevoisier-Crelier.
/ATS
Swiss
