Following the backdoor manoeuvre by rightwing parties in Parliament last month to allow wolves to be hunted in Spain, environmentalists have published a simple graphic to illustrate the importance of this native animal to the biodiversity of the areas it inhabits.
Entitled ‘how does the wolf improve ecosystems?’, the data from Iberian Wildlife notes that they ‘regulate’ the population of large herbivores such as deer.
This, in turn, ensures that vegetation is not stripped bare in areas where large populations of the herbivores live and land erosion is prevented.
The presence of wolves also increases biodiversity in the environment and allows other species to flourish.
“An ecosystem with wolves is healthier and more resistant,” they state.
Last week, secretary of state for the environment, Hugo Morán warned the regional governments of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias that they cannot automatically list wolves as a species that can be hunted.
He has formally asked the governments to state exactly how many wolves they plan to allow hunters to shoot.
In April the Partido Popular (PP) had introduced an amendment to a law going through Parliament on preventing food waste; their move was backed by other parties, including nationalists from Cataluña and the Basque Country, and far-right Vox.
The clause ignored evidence provided by scientists and withdrew protection for wolves to the north of the River Duero, where the mainstay of the population lives.
The PP claimed the measure would ‘control the impact that the species is having on livestock and, in this way, prevent food waste’.
According to the WWF, the European Commission published a study in 2023 which found ‘there is no proof that culling wolves leads to a reduction in the deaths of livestock’.
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