ASCEL has filed a criminal complaint in Cantabria for Revilla’s wolf control policy and they want to extend it to Asturias

The Association for the Conservation and Study of the Iberian Wolf (Accel) presented this Friday to the Santander Courts a criminal complaint against the Minister of Rural Development, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Environment of Cantabria. William Whiteand against the General Director of Biodiversity, Environment and Climate Change of the same administration led by Miguel Angel Revilla, Antonio Javier Lucio CaleroBy Ten wolves in that area have been ordered removed.

He accused the defendants of ordering the death for arbitrary damage data and arguing a favorable conservation position, without motivation.

It also indicates directly under the charge of the director. Disobedience of minister’s order On the wolf conservation regime throughout Spanish territory.

Ascel says it will do the same if environmental prosecutor files complaint Against David Villar, General Director of the Natural Environment and Rural Planning of the Principality of Asturias, whom he accused verbose To sign a resolution opening the door to eliminating a wolf in Picos de Europa National Park. According to Ascel, the Director General of Heaven resolved to eliminate the wolf before receiving the mandatory report from the Ministry.

In the case of the wolf of Asturias, it considers that the existing regulations have been violated because it considers that no other measures have been sought that would prevent the death of the wolf and because, always according to the opinion of this environmental association, Wolve attacks have not caused any significant damage In the area where the sample is to be ablated.

Same argument as previous complaint

The conservation union uses arguments similar to those in the complaint, which was filed in March in conjunction with the WWF against these two senior Cantabrian officialsS, whom he accused of a crime verbose Article 404 of the Criminal Code is punishable by disqualification for a term of nine to fifteen years.,

after this complaint Justice crippled wolf extraction orders,

in april The prosecutor has filed this complaint By denying the existence of any environmental crime and accusing environmental associations of the crimes of tampering and document falsification during the processing of this process,

some background

At the end of last year, councilors representing the communities of Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and Castilla y León met Virginijus Cinquinius, the European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries. At the headquarters of the European Commission, in Brussels, for Analyze the status of the Iberian wolf In their respective autonomous communities, their conservation status and the need to maintain the difficult balance between species and extensive livestock farming in rural areas.

The four councilors informed him about the situation raised in their areas by giving a joint letter to him. Incorporating wolves into LESPREWhich has prevented them from managing and conserving wolves as has been done in past decades, wolves are controlled by removing specific specimens that cause irreparable damage to livestock farms.

in the letter categorically deny the speech of the ministryWhich states that the conservation status of this wild species is unfavorable, and argues that the six-yearly report that Spain sends to Europe on the status of the wolf does not correspond to the data provided by the four autonomous communities that represent most of the world. There are houses for of the population of the species in the country.

10. Withdrawal of the Wolves

One of the facts that provoked the complaint is that the Government of Cantabria has already authorized last June10. Withdrawal of wolves in the fields of Brotherhood of Tudanca, Cabuérniga and Campo de Suso. Through three resolutions published in the Official Gazette of Cantabria, the government of Miguel Ángel Revilla allowed the “extraction” of these specimens in areas affected by more than 200 attacks by this animal against livestock.

Thus, the Cantabrian government Put the Executive “Up against the Wall”, which included the Iberian wolf in the list of species with special protection, effectively preventing its hunting. Until that time, their hunting was common in the territories north of the Duero, usually affected by attacks by these animals against livestock and other agricultural infrastructure.

these measures has not been done assume that TSJC in September (Controversial-Administrative Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Cantabria) agreed to the precautionary measure requested by the ASCEL and authorizations have been suspended The Ministry of Livestock for the hunting of ten dogs in different municipalities in three regions of the region.

they will ask for it again

The Minister of Rural Development, Livestock, Fisheries, Food and Environment, Guillermo Blanco (PRC), has announced that his department will once again request the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenges (MITERD). Authorization to hunt wolves in areas with a high presence of this species in Cantabria.

In particular, the regional executive once again defends the measure to “control the species” in Los Tojos-Cabuerniga, Polaciones-Tudanca and Hermandad de Campo de Suso, as well as in Campo de en Medio.,