The Tyrolean State Administrative Court (LVwG) addresses the preliminary ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) with four questions on the subject of wolves. LHS Deputy Josef Geisler is still striving for a change in the Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive (FFH). Environmental organization WWF insists on a herd protection offensive.
Questions about the legal interpretation of the FFH are now being sent from the Tyrol to the ECJ. The LVwG submits corresponding legal questions. Agriculture Minister Norbert Totschnig had already called for the more than 30-year-old Habitats Directive to be revised and the protection status of wolves to be lowered. “But that is a mammoth task. That’s why we need some legal clarifications in the meantime so that we can make progress in wolf management at the state level,” Geisler interjects. A decision by the ECJ can usually be expected in about one and a half years. “Until then, we will continue to exhaust all legal options and leave no stone unturned to preserve the alpine farming and support the animal owners as best we can,” Geisler continued. An adjustment concerns the principle of equality. Excluded from the strict protection regime of the Habitats Directive are wolves in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and parts of Finland, Greece and Spain satisfied. “That means in no uncertain terms that the shooting decisions may not be enforced. In view of the proceedings before the European Court of Justice, continuing the current practice is pointless,” says environmental lawyer Gregor Schamschula. Wolves are important for the ecosystem and enrich biodiversity. As the “forest’s health police”, they keep the wild population in good condition and can curb the spread of diseases, according to the WWF. “This is exactly where Tyrol and several other federal states are late. Most flocks of sheep are still unprotected.
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