📋 Tender Overview
The purpose of the strategy and action plan, prepared by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning (MNRP) and adopted by the Government last week, is to define the legal, organizational, substantive and financial framework of measures for the long-term maintenance of a favorable state of the wolf population in Slovenia and the reduction of conflicts with humans.Although the wolf population (Latin: Canis lupus) is in a favorable conservation status, the long-term success of its conservation is not guaranteed. Especially in areas where spatial fragmentation is greater and wolves have not been present historically for a long time, there is an increased possibility of conflicts. The wolf in Slovenia belongs to the northwestern part of the Dinaric-Balkan population, which covers the majority of the Balkan Peninsula, and to the eastern part of the Alpine population, which are connected in Slovenia. It once inhabited the entire country and survived in very small numbers even during the intensive persecution of large carnivores across Europe from the 18th century onwards. Due to its adaptability and ability to quickly colonize the area, the wolf population gradually strengthened after protection. Nevertheless, the presence of wolf packs remained limited to the southern and western parts of Slovenia for a long time. Since 2010, Slovenia has been conducting reliable wolf monitoring based on non-invasive genetic samples. In Slovenia, the wolf population has expanded both spatially and numerically since 2010 (by about three times) and is in a favorable conservation status. In 2018, wolf pairs were detected again in the Alpine and Pre-Alpine areas after several decades, and in 2019, reproduction was confirmed in the aforementioned area for the first time. In 2024, a wolf pack was detected in Pohorje. After 2010, many activities (especially within the framework of various projects) were aimed at supporting the use of protective measures to protect herds on pastures, and their co-financing was also introduced within the framework of the public service of the Slovenian Forest Service, directly through the MNVP and also the Common Agricultural Policy. Strategy and Action Plan Due to all the new circumstances and experience gained, there was a need to renew certain parts of the strategy and align its contents with the newly emerging actual situation in nature. In addition, it was necessary to prepare a new action plan, which is the implementation part of the strategy. The aim of the strategy and action plan is to optimise the wolf management system in Slovenia, reduce the number of conflicts with humans and thus ensure the possibility of long-term conservation of the species, including through damage prevention and a compensation system, information, dialogue and involvement of stakeholder groups, intervention in the wolf population in cases where all the specified conditions are met, research and project work, prevention of unplanned anthropogenic mortality and crossbreeding between wolves and domestic dogs, and preservation of wolf habitat and a sufficient prey base. The draft documents were created within the framework of the LIFE WolfAlps EU project. For this purpose, a preparatory group was formed to prepare strategic documents for the wolf, in which representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, the Slovenian Forest Service, the Slovenian Institute for Nature Conservation, the Biotechnical Faculty of the University of Ljubljana and the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia participated. In March this year, the European Commission published a proposal to amend the Habitats Directive, which lowers the protection status of the wolf in order to transpose the amendment to the Bern Convention into EU law. A change in wolf management on the territory of Slovenia based on the amendment to the Bern Convention and the proposed amendment to the Habitats Directive will not yet be possible. An amendment to the Regulation on protected species of wild animals would be necessary, which can only happen after the amendment to the Habitats Directive. After the amendment to the Regulation, management documents will be updated accordingly (the strategy and action plan for the wolf will be supplemented or repealed). The proposal to amend the Habitats Directive also allows Member States to maintain or introduce stricter conservation measures, so Member States may maintain a stricter level of protection for the wolf for the purposes of the Habitats Directive than that provided for in the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 92/43/EEC as regards the conservation status of the wolf.
