Evidence-based hunting policy needed in Slovakia

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62156489%3A43410%2F20%3A43918693" target="_blank" >RIV/62156489:43410/20:43918693 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf5155" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abf5155</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.abf5155" target="_blank" >10.1126/science.abf5155</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Evidence-based hunting policy needed in Slovakia

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

The Swiss people recently rejected a law that would have allowed protected animals to be hunted (1), but hunting of vulnerable species such as wolves still occurs in Slovakia and elsewhere in Europe. The European Union&apos;s Habitats Directive allows deliberate killing of wolves in nine countries (2) unless hunting would threaten the sustainability of the population, but population data are inadequate in some countries. Slovakia must implement evidence-based policies to protect wolf populations. In 2016, Slovakia made changes to increase wolf hunting regulation and improve population monitoring (3). However, the changes have not been implemented nationally. Recently, the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved a quota of 50 wolves for the upcoming winter season (4). Such policies should be based on a scientific assessment of the viability of wolf populations (5). Instead, the Ministry justified the number by citing misleading arguments about sheep farming and food security (4). In contrast to the government&apos;s claims, wolves kill less than 0.1% of Slovakia&apos;s sheep and goats (3). The recent policy also fails to acknowledge that sheep breeding in Slovakia declined between 2009 and 2019, when 28 to 158 wolves were killed per year, suggesting that hunting did not mitigate the problem (6). The food security justification is also specious: Sheep and goat products are only a small part of Slovak diet and accounted for less than 0.4% of gross agricultural production in the past 10 years (7). Instead of relying on misleading justifications for hunting, Slovakia should find alternative methods to minimize the risk of damages from large carnivores. However, the country has so far opted not to use EU funds available for this purpose (8). Policies in Slovakia target wolves as the only source of problems in the agricultural sector and ignore the market-based causes of the sheep decline that have been shown elsewhere in Europe (9, 10). Although wolf numbers are trending positively in Europe (11), Slovak hunting affects wolf recovery in neighboring Czechia, where the wolf population is protected (12). Without reliable evaluation of hunting impact, Slovakia cannot make informed policy decisions, despite the country&apos;s nominal adherence to EU regulations. Slovakia&apos;s failure to collect adequate data and base policy on science is a dangerous precedent that undermines biodiversity conservation efforts in Europe and worldwide.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Evidence-based hunting policy needed in Slovakia

Popis výsledku anglicky

The Swiss people recently rejected a law that would have allowed protected animals to be hunted (1), but hunting of vulnerable species such as wolves still occurs in Slovakia and elsewhere in Europe. The European Union&apos;s Habitats Directive allows deliberate killing of wolves in nine countries (2) unless hunting would threaten the sustainability of the population, but population data are inadequate in some countries. Slovakia must implement evidence-based policies to protect wolf populations. In 2016, Slovakia made changes to increase wolf hunting regulation and improve population monitoring (3). However, the changes have not been implemented nationally. Recently, the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development approved a quota of 50 wolves for the upcoming winter season (4). Such policies should be based on a scientific assessment of the viability of wolf populations (5). Instead, the Ministry justified the number by citing misleading arguments about sheep farming and food security (4). In contrast to the government&apos;s claims, wolves kill less than 0.1% of Slovakia&apos;s sheep and goats (3). The recent policy also fails to acknowledge that sheep breeding in Slovakia declined between 2009 and 2019, when 28 to 158 wolves were killed per year, suggesting that hunting did not mitigate the problem (6). The food security justification is also specious: Sheep and goat products are only a small part of Slovak diet and accounted for less than 0.4% of gross agricultural production in the past 10 years (7). Instead of relying on misleading justifications for hunting, Slovakia should find alternative methods to minimize the risk of damages from large carnivores. However, the country has so far opted not to use EU funds available for this purpose (8). Policies in Slovakia target wolves as the only source of problems in the agricultural sector and ignore the market-based causes of the sheep decline that have been shown elsewhere in Europe (9, 10). Although wolf numbers are trending positively in Europe (11), Slovak hunting affects wolf recovery in neighboring Czechia, where the wolf population is protected (12). Without reliable evaluation of hunting impact, Slovakia cannot make informed policy decisions, despite the country&apos;s nominal adherence to EU regulations. Slovakia&apos;s failure to collect adequate data and base policy on science is a dangerous precedent that undermines biodiversity conservation efforts in Europe and worldwide.

Druh

J_imp - Článek v periodiku v databázi Web of Science

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

40102 - Forestry

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Rok uplatnění

2020

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název periodika

Science

ISSN

0036-8075

e-ISSN

—

Svazek periodika

370

Číslo periodika v rámci svazku

6521

Stát vydavatele periodika

US - Spojené státy americké

Počet stran výsledku

1

Strana od-do

1174

Kód UT WoS článku

000596071300020

EID výsledku v databázi Scopus

2-s2.0-85097124207