Presentation of past activities within the LIFE III project "Conservation and Management of Wolves in Croatia" - 18 July 2003

On 18 July 2003 a press conference was held in the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning at which the past activities within the context of implementing the LIFE project "Conservation and Management of Wolves in Croatia" were presented. It is a three-year programme of various activities aiming at the establishment of a mechanism for a long-term conservation of wolves including an as harmonious as possible coexistence with man. The project is implemented by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planning in collaboration with the School of Veterinary Medicine of the Zagreb University and with the financial assistance coming from the EU fund for LIFE - Third Countries.

The conference was opened by Dr. Ivan Martinić, Assistant Minister for Nature Conservation and the Project Manager. He stressed the significance of executing the project for conservation of wolves as an important natural value of Croatia. Ana Štrbenac, temporary Head of the National Nature Conservation Institute and Head of the Project presented in detail past project activities. She emphasized that the project had started late in December 2002 and had been executed through five basic activities: institutional strengthening, strengthening of participation of interest groups in decision-making, damage reduction, education and information and wolf population monitoring and management activities.

Within the framework of the project regional offices for the areas of Gorski kotar, Lika and Dalmatia were opened, managed by regional project co-ordinators. The objective of founding these offices is to encourage an active involvement of the local community in decision-making on the protection of wolves and finding solutions to this problem area. In this connection regional co-ordinators have so far held 17 meetings with local cattle-breeders and hunters, at which the key problems related to wolves and the damage caused to cattle were addressed and possible solutions proposed. The local population welcomed such an approach to resolution of problems related to the protection of wolf. In order to ensure a timely damage assessment and improve the existing damage compensation system the number of chartered experts was increased to a total of 15 in the entire region of Croatia. The first of three seminars planned for their professional training and improvement was held too.

Three workshops were also held with the aim to prepare a plan for wolf management in Croatia, as a document that will represent an instruction for wolf conservation in Croatia. The management plan is being prepared in collaboration with representatives of various interest groups dealing with the wolf conservation problem area (competent ministries, cattle-breeders, hunters, non-governmental organizations, scientists, etc.). All workshop participants stress that wolves are to be protected, but they still have to reach the agreement on either a strict protection of wolves or a protection that would allow a limited kill. The completion of the Wolf Management Plan is scheduled for the end of 2003.

At the moment a poll is being conducted among the population about the opinion concerning wolves in wolf inhabited areas or rather areas of Gorski kotar, Lika and Dalmatia. Namely, for a successful wolf management in Croatia it is necessary to understand the people living in areas which are at the same time wolf habitats. There are also plans to conduct a poll among people living outside the wolf spread area or rather the inhabitants of Zagreb as the major urban area of Croatia.

The information and education activities include the publication of an information leaflet about the project and leaflets about pen-guardians and electric fences, including criteria and conditions for their assignment. Within the project it is, namely, planned to donate 60 pen-guardians and 20 electric fences. Educational lectures for present and future beneficiaries of the donation is scheduled for autumn.

The official project web site created - www.life-vuk.hr - contains all the necessary project information, including information on all activities and events in connection with the wolf conservation in Croatia.

The telemetric research on wolves is being carried out in Gorski kotar and it is planned to start in the area of Lika by the end of the year. At present one telemetrically marked wolf is being monitored in Gorski kotar.