Finska motsvarigheten till Jordbruksverket föreslår en stamreglerande jakt på 20 vargar i Finland denna vinter. Det är alltså inte bara i Norge och Sverige som vargen har det svårt i Norden.
Du kan hjälpa våra finska vänner i deras kampanj för att stoppa jakten genom att skicka ett epost till den ansvariga finska ministern Jari Leppa. Använd den nedanstående texten och skicka meddelandet till [email protected].
To the attention of:
Mr. Jari Leppä
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland
[email protected]
Subject: Withdraw the proposal to kill wolves in Finland
Dear Mr Leppä,
As a person concerned with the global biodiversity crisis, I respectfully ask you to withdraw the proposal from the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to kill 20 wolves (from 4 packs) the coming winter, with the supposed purpose of ”regulating the growth of the wolf population, prevent damage and promote the acceptability of the wolf”. Such a proposal goes against Finland’s legal obligation to prohibit the deliberate killing of wolves as specimens of a strictly protected species listed under the Annex IV(a) of the Habitats Directive. It would also go against the rulings of the CJEU as no derogation from Article 16(1) can be granted if the objective pursued can be achieved by another satisfactory alternative.
The ministry´s aim to ”regulate the growth of the wolf population”, is not consistent with the wording and the spirit of the Habitats Directive and violates the prohibition for deliberate killing set up in Article 12 of the Directive. The purpose of a derogation from strict protection cannot be having less wolves. The European Commission has stated on several occasions that derogations under Article 16 are not a population management tool and they should be used only as an exception and last resort.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ratified that: ”the strict species protection pursuant to Art. 12(1)(a) to (c) applies to all Annex IV species irrespective of whether they have achieved favourable conservation status or not.” Additionally, the EC has stated in its recently updated Guidance document on the strict protection of animal species of Community interest under the Habitats Directive that ”There seems to be no solid evidence on the effectiveness of the use of lethal control to reduce livestock predation… and it might actually lead to an increase in livestock predation and conflicts… Competent authorities in the Member States should take all these elements into account when deciding on and implementing their management measures.”
Lethal management of wolves is not only out of step with modern conservation, but it is also not supported by the public as many recent polls show. It is quite perplexing that the Finnish ministry puts so much attention on those who are against the presence of wolves while totally ignoring the opinion of the majority who wants wolves’ lives to be respected. If the Ministry truly wants to promote the coexistence with wolves, this can be more effectively done with other non-lethal tools such as the sharing of relevant information and education, as it’s being done in many other European countries.
Please withdraw your ministry´s proposal to kill 20 wolves in Finland this coming winter and send a clear message to the world about Finland´s commitment to respect European law and protect our endangered species and common natural heritage.
Thank you,
(Your name)
