Since 2023 in particular, nature protection associations have criticized the French government for its positions in terms of wolf management. This is the reason why they had already suspended their participation in the National Wolf Group (GNL). The very inclusion of the decommissioning objective in the 2024-2029 national action plan had greatly upset them.
In the new context linked to the modification of the status of the wolf by the standing committee of the Berne Convention, the “defenders of nature” fear that “the wolves targeted are not necessarily those which have caused damage to the herds and that will in no way resolve the difficulties of breeders and shepherds,” they believe.
Protective measures
The fact remains that wolves are present everywhere in France and coexistence with livestock farming will have to continue. For organizations, “this requires effective protection measures: protection dogs, fencing and human presence. It is lying to the agricultural world to make people believe that shooting is the priority solution for managing the presence of the predator,” they insist.
Marie-France Malterre
(1) Aspas (Wild Animal Protection Association), Ferus (Association for the Conservation of Bears, Wolves and Lynx), FNE (France Nature Environnement), LPO (Animal Protective League), Humanity and Biodiversity, WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).