As we have seen from recent events in parliament, the council and discussions at the Bern Convention Standing Committee, the coexistence of wolves with livestock breeding remains a contentious and highly politicised topic. The EU Platform members represent a range of interest groups and of course also have varying viewpoints on the precise management measures which should be permitted in order to support coexistence between humans and large carnivores. Nonetheless, our acceptance of each other’s view points and openness for discussing them, allows us to continue talking. As we have seen in the various recent initiatives, this is perhaps the one point that all can agree upon, that, in order to coexist, stakeholders must be involved in discussions around conservation and management decisions. 

Platforms such as the EU Platform, provide a convenient format for such discussions. For that reason, we are very happy to launch, firstly in a test format, our toolkit, for supporting the establishment of similar local and regional discussion fora. This builds on the significant experiences of the platform members following the establishment of 6 pilot local to regional platforms across the EU. We are very happy to receive feedback and suggestions for improvements. 

I would like to send you festive greetings for the last weeks of 2022 and a very good start to the new year!

Jurgen Tack
Scientific Director of the European Landowners’ Organization (ELO)
Co-chair of the EU Platform on Coexistence between People and Large Carnivores