[Animals] The armor of the Iberian wolf generates a wave of satisfaction ... and another of indignation

[[M]anuel]

Link: https://www.efeverde.com/noticias/blindaje-lobo-genera-ola-satisfaccion-indignacion/

 

 

The formal ban on the hunting of the Iberian wolf in Spain has generated this Tuesday a wave of applause from environmental organizations and a very different wave of criticism from farmers, hunters and representatives of the most affected CCAA, who will take this decision to court .

 

The Official State Gazette today publishes the government order that modifies the List of Wild Species under the Special Protection Regime (LESPRE) to include the Iberian wolf (“Canis lupus”), with the endorsement of the State Council and the Scientific Committee.

 

Its objective is to "unify the level of protection of the species" and establish "preventive measures, compensation and control mechanisms to avoid and alleviate the damage caused by attacks on extensive livestock", so that, starting tomorrow, Wednesday, hunt a wolf in Any point in Spain will be a crime typified in the Penal Code punishable by imprisonment from 6 months to 2 years or a fine from 8 to 24 months.

 

Satisfaction.

 

Conservation organizations have welcomed the measure with satisfaction as it represents "a very important step for the balance of our ecosystems" as described by WWF Spain, although they insist that "it comes after years of complaints, studies, demonstrations, reports and processes judicial "as they recall from Ecologists in Action.

 

Now environmentalists demand measures that enhance the coexistence of the wolf and livestock, in addition to the persecution of illegal hunting, and demand that the Autonomous Communities of Castilla y León, Asturias, Cantabria and Galicia -the most affected by the change in status- that "Stop fueling social conflict."

 

The Association for the Conservation and Study of the Iberian Wolf (ASCEL) believes that it supposes "to repair a historical error", since the wolf is "the only species of terrestrial carnivore in Spain not protected until now", such as the brown bear and the Iberian lynx and considers that the administrative change "is not due so much to the will of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), but to civil society."

 

 

Political parties such as Alianza Verde, coordinated by Juantxo López de Uralde, have described as "magnificent" news that they had been waiting for "years" and warned that they will ensure that protection is guaranteed with sufficient resources to promote extensive livestock farming and their coexistence with the species.

 

López de Uralde recalls that the issue has been debated in the Congress of Deputies since 2016 and celebrates that it has come forward despite "obstacles and pressure from the livestock lobby and hunting" in recent years.

 

Indignation

 

Opposite are farmers, ranchers, hunters and political representatives of the so-called "wolf communities", who call the decision "stabbing", "frustrating" and "outrageous" and fear for the future of the rural world.

 

Those responsible for the environment of the Xunta de Galicia, Ángeles Vázquez; the Principality of Asturias, Alejandro Calvo; the Government of Cantabria, Guillermo Blanco, and the Junta de Castilla y León, Juan Carlos Suárez-Quiñones (in addition to the Spanish-Leon vice president, Francisco Igea), have announced from their respective regions that they will go to court to stop the entry into force of a order “without scientific rigor” and “contrary to the principles of the Demographic Challenge of MITECO itself”.

 

 

Blanco has come to ask that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, take responsibility because "at least one member of his Government, the Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, is against this measure being adopted without consensus."

Planas has responded by supporting the order while acknowledging that "ranchers are often afraid", which justifies compensation and defense measures "against the attacks that may occasionally occur."

 

Meetings

In the next few days the CCAA involved will meet to analyze the situation and coordinate actions and the same will be done by the agricultural organizations Asaja, COAG and UPA, which have accused the Government of "condemning the extinction of livestock" with a measure "urban and irresponsible, which will cause pain and economic losses in rural areas ”, driven“ with arrogance ”by a“ biased and ideological decision based on the falsehood that the wolf is threatened in Spain ”.

 

 

They accuse Minister Teresa Ribera - whom COAG has even asked to declare persona 'non grata' in Castilla y León - and MITECO of "breaking their word" with a "whimsical whim" because "they promised to negotiate the management protocol of the species before adopting this measure ”, decided by“ a minority of animal owners ”located in“ the offices and not in the cattle villages ”.

 

The Royal Spanish Hunting Federation has also announced a contentious-administrative appeal before the National Court, as it considers what happened as "one more chapter in the roadmap that MITECO has to end hunting", while the president of the Fundación Artemisan, José Luis López, believes that it is “an error” that “breaks the consensus” with a “more political than scientific decision”. Efeverde