Dear Members of Parliament, Members of the Bern Convention, and Ministers of Agriculture and the Environment,

I am writing to urge you to formally object to the recent decision to downgrade wolf (Canis lupus) protection under the Bern Convention and to take a stand for science-based conservation policies in Europe.

On 3 December 2024, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention voted to lower wolf protection from Appendix II ("strictly protected") to Appendix III ("protected"), following a proposal by the European Union. This decision:

• Lacks scientific justification, as confirmed by hundreds of scientists and the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE).
• Relied on a non-peer-reviewed consultancy report, commissioned by the European Commission, instead of independent, peer-reviewed research.
• Undermines decades of conservation efforts, making it easier to reduce protection for other species in the future.
• Bypasses democratic procedures, as the EU fast-tracked the decision, limiting objections and preventing some EU countries from expressing their opposition.

Why Immediate Action Is Needed

If at least 17 Contracting Parties object by 2 March 2025, the decision will not take effect. This is a crucial opportunity to uphold science-based conservation policies and restore credibility to the Bern Convention.

I Urge You to Take the Following Actions:

1. Formally submit an objection to the Bern Convention Secretariat before 2 March 2025.
2. Support reforms to the Bern Convention’s decision-making process to ensure proposals undergo independent scientific scrutiny before a vote.
3. Protect democratic governance by ensuring that no Party, including the EU, can override the objections of other members through bloc voting on political grounds.

The Bern Convention was established to protect biodiversity based on science and shared environmental responsibility. Its credibility is now at risk. The decision to weaken wolf protection goes against the very principles of the Convention, which acknowledges the intrinsic value of wild species and the duty to safeguard them for future generations.

Wolves play a critical role in European ecosystems and have been recovering only thanks to strict protections. Allowing politically motivated downgrades, against scientific advice, threatens not only wolves but the integrity of environmental agreements as a whole.

I urge you to act now to ensure that science, not politics, dictates wildlife conservation in Europe.

In this respect I invite you to consider that the Court of Justice of the European Union will be examining the flaws in the process that led to the wolf’s downlisting following the action brought before the Court by Green Impact and four other NGOs against the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. Applicants claim that the proposal to downlist the wolf under the Bern Convention should be annulled. The case and grounds for the appeal (as also outlined in this email) were published in the Official Journal of the European Union: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/922/oj/eng. If the Court rules in favour of the applicants, this will make the EU’s downlisting proposal null and void and thus directly impact on the downlisting decision taken by the Bern Convention’s Contracting Parties.

Sincerely,

LCIE statement on wolf downlisting proposal


Proposal EC re shift wolf from app II to III Kotrschal Oct 30 2024