With a seven month delay on the ministry’s order protecting the wolf across Spain since September, the Wolf Protection Strategy faced approval from the Environmental Industry Conference but met resistance from three of the four northwest communities. Galicia, Cantabria, and Castilla y León, together with support from Asturias, appeared to diverge in their positions.
It replaces the earlier measure approved in 2005, and the new name signals a shift in intent. It is now titled Strategy for Wolf Conservation and Management and Coexistence with Rural Activities. One clear aim is to foster coexistence between the symbol of the Iberian landscape and widespread livestock farming. Some sectors have already expressed doubts about the feasibility of this goal.
Nonetheless, the strategy outlines additional objectives, including the recovery of the species, promoting eastern and southern expansion into areas where wolves disappeared, and reducing livestock losses.
The strategy, backed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, continues the line of the ministerial order that last September placed the wolf on the Wild Species List under the Special Conservation Regime (Lespre).
The ministry will provide funding to autonomous communities to promote prevention measures against intrusions and to compensate those affected by livestock damage.
The document outlines a new national census of the species and allows exceptional wolf harvesting only in cases of serious animal damage and under strict circumstances.
“Selective and reasoned” inferences
There will be no advance quotas for sample collection during a season. Actions against wolves must be targeted and justified with reports showing that the species does not threaten local or national conservation status.
There are additional conditions: before a wolf is killed, it must be demonstrated that every precaution to prevent attacks has been taken, in line with the European Union Habitats Directive and Spanish law.
The Ecological Transition ministry reserves controls before any removals: each action requires a mandatory non-binding report on its impact on the conservation status of the species within the relevant biogeographic context and across the Spanish territory.
Autonomous communities must report all actions and share results with the ministry, which is responsible for collecting and periodically submitting information about eliminated wolves to the European Commission in order to assess how the Habitats Directive exception regime is being implemented in Spain.
The plan also aims to expand knowledge about the wolf and to improve social perception of the species, spreading ecological values in areas where it coexists with large-scale farming.
The text calls for stricter efforts to counter unnatural wolf deaths, including road collisions and hunting, and to curb poisoning, traps, and harmful baits.
Livestock denial, environmental divide
The reaction from those most affected has been mixed. Ranchers in the northwest have voiced open opposition, fearing a rise in livestock losses under the new framework.
Among environmentalists there are divided views. WWF and Ecologists in Action welcome the strategy, while the Iberian Wolf Conservation and Research Society (ASCEL)—which supports conservation across Spain—calls the plan unacceptable if it continues to allow wolf killings. ASCEL has warned of possible court action if necessary.
The Iberian wolf image is shown here as a reminder of the species, and it appears in Wikimedia photographs used for illustration.
WWF argues that wolf conservation is unquestionable and applauds a shift away from the old policy of killing wolves, emphasizing that the strategy marks a major paradigm shift toward prevention of harm. Yet it also notes important shortcomings in the document.
Ecologistas en Acción praises the strategy overall but remains deeply skeptical about eradicating wolves. They acknowledge progress in moving away from population control and the notion of establishing killing quotas, while urging further improvements to the text.
Thus the million dollar question remains: can wolves and cattle coexist? The ministry and some autonomous communities believe yes under the new framework; others disagree. Environmental groups remain hopeful but express significant doubts. Time will tell how this balance is struck.
Strategy for Wolf Conservation and Management: de Transición Ecológica, Estrategia del lobo 2022. This citation attributes the framework to the official government plan and summarizes its intent and scope.