International (PIL)/Europe: Standing Committee of the Bern Convention approves EU proposal to lower wolf protection.

According to the press release from 3 December 2024 the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention approved a downgrading of wolf protection at the suggestion of the EU.

The Bern Convention (Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats) is an international treaty of the Council of Europe in the field of nature conservation. Both the EU and Switzerland are parties to the Bern Convention. The Bern Convention's governing body is the Standing Committee, which is composed of representatives of the contracting parties.

The main task of the committee is to monitor the provisions of the convention, for which purpose it makes recommendations to the parties and amends the appendices listing the protected species.

Two years ago, Switzerland, as a party to the Bern Convention, made a proposal to downgrade the wolf's protected status, which was rejected at the time.

Now the EU, as a party to the convention, has proposed that the wolf no longer be categorised as a ‘strictly protected species’ in Appendix II, but only as a ‘protected species’ in Appendix III of the convention.

The Standing Committee has now agreed to this proposal. The final decision will be published tomorrow (06.12.2024). If no more than 1/3 of the parties object to this amendment, it will come into force in three months.

If less than 1/3 of the parties object, the amendment will only come into force for the parties that have not objected.