The EU takes on the IUCN and the UN over Swedish Wolf Management?

Wolf management is a contentious issue, more or less everywhere that this fascinating animal occurs. Currently, the strictly controlled and limited culling of 20 individuals in Sweden attracts interest all over the world; media as far away as Australia have covered the hunt and protests have even come from people in Fiji. The Swedish government and the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management (SAHWM) claim that limited hunting is a necessary part of the management plan. Swedish environmentalists regard the culling as unlawful and have reported it as a violation of the Habitat’s Directive of the EU. Currently, the Commission is deliberating whether to take the Swedish government to court. Interestingly, it appears as if the EU Commission is at loggerheads with the experts from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) over the principles of large carnivore management and potentially with the Human Rights Office of the UN.

Today, the notion that large carnivore management critically hinges on local acceptance for the species to be managed is an accepted axiom amongst conservation biologists. It is also the position of the IUCN, the major international organisation dealing with conservation of nature. Support for having the wolf in Sweden is in excess of 70 % at the national level and is currently increasing. At the same time, support for having wolves is decreasing in the areas harbouring the wolves. In some rural municipalities, a majority already exists for decreasing the national population. Thus, there is a strong acceptance for the wolf where it doesn’t occur, but the rural people that encounter wolves and have to deal with the risk of having livestock or pets taken are much less positive. This poses a serious threat to a sustainable wolf management in Sweden.

The Swedish wolf population is highly inbred, partly due to the fact that wolves that attempt to reproduce in the reindeer areas in northern Sweden are removed. This creates a barrier the size of Austria between the Swedish and the Finnish wolves and seriously reduces the rate of immigration. The indigenous Sami people keep 250 000 reindeer in this area and are currently losing in excess of 50 000 of the stock each year, mainly to lynx but also to wolverine and brown bear. Wolves are considered to be the worst threat to reindeer husbandry by the Sami people. Adding reproducing wolves into the area already experiencing heavy predation would make reindeer husbandry unprofitable. This is the rationale for the decision by the Swedish Parliament not to have reproducing wolves in the reindeer area. In fact, Sweden has recently been criticized by the Human Rights Office of the UN because of the already high levels of predation on reindeer. Opening up this area to wolves, as suggested by Commissioner Potocnik, would clearly violate the recommendations of the HRO.

Swedish authorities are now planning to improve the genetic status of the wolf population through translocations of individuals with a different genetic background. Up to 20 individuals will be added to the population, unless there is natural immigration. Support for this action varies, but a number of stakeholders, including organized hunters, farmers and Sami people, have stated that this can only be accepted if the size of the wolf population is regulated at the same time. Taking these views and the low support for wolves in the rural parts where the wolf occurs into account, the Swedish Parliament has decided to allow limited hunting. Currently, there is a temporary ceiling of 210 wolfs in place and the actions taken will be reviewed in 2012.

The Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe (LCIE) is an expert group of the IUCN that recently assessed the Swedish wolf management. In December 2010, the LCIE concluded that the Swedish wolf population is one of the best studied populations in the world and that the effects of the culling were modelled using state of the art methods. Furthermore, the LCIE stated that the quota set was conservative and that the culling was unlikely to seriously jeopardize population viability or its further development towards reaching a more favourable conservation status. Most importantly, the LCIE experts found the management plan in agreement with the Habitat’s Directive.

Yesterday, Mr Joe Hennon, spokesman for the European Commission, was interviewed by the BBC International (Europe Today 20.01.11) and claimed that the Swedish management plan was not founded on scientific results and that the hunting, therefore, was illegal. The Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management begs to differ. The Swedish wolf population is closely monitored and is amongst the best studied populations in the world. The management plan is based on detailed analyses of data from the same population, taking international findings into account, and has been formulated together with Swedish and international experts on wolf biology and wildlife management. Hunting is a necessary part of the plan and a means to achieve favourable conservation status, as it is a requirement for the translocation of new wolves into the population.

SAHWM concurs with LCIE: the Swedish wolf management is a determined and responsible action aimed at achieving favourable conservation status for the Swedish wolf. Few alternatives exist, if any. Furthermore, Sweden has a track record of succeeding with the  conservation of lynx and the brown bear, using a similar approach.

 Fredrik Widemo is Associate Professor in Animal Ecology and the Conservation Manager at the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management. He is acting as SAHWM:s expert on the effects of wildlife management, and other forms of land use, on biodiversity.

SAHWM is an NGO, but holds a public commission to inform hunters and the public about game, game management and hunting. Also, SAHWM is in charge of game monitoring and of training hunters in Sweden.