Lynx conservation project honoured
The LIFE Lynx project has won two prestigious LIFE 2025 awards. The expert jury recognized the project as the best in Europe in the Nature Conservation & Biodiversity category, while the public also voted it the audience award winner.
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EU Parliament votes to weaken wolf protection
In a deeply concerning move for biodiversity across Europe, the European Parliament approved on the 8th of May the European Commission’s proposal to downgrade the protection status of wolves under the Flora-Fauna-Habitat Directive. What is particularly worrying is that the fast-track vote was taken in an urgency procedure in which the responsible environmental committee was not even consulted. ++ Addendum of 10 June 2025: Following the EU Parliament, the member states have now also approved the amendment. ++
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Bear cub drama
At the end of March, a bear cub was delivered to the animal welfare organisation FOUR PAWS in Pristina, Kosovo. The cub had been caught in Albania and put up for sale online. A scandal showing that wildlife trafficking has not been completely curbed yet in the region and that effective structures for bear emergencies are urgently needed.
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Europe’s wolves under attack: Bern Convention weakens wolf protection
The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention voted to lower the protection status of wolves. This decision, driven by the EU's push to weaken wolf protections, is a step with serious consequences, devoid of any solid scientific foundation.
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Europe weakens wolf protection
Major blow to science and biodiversity after vote by EU member states
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Strengthen wolf protection, don't weaken it!
More than 300 civil society groups call on the EU to strengthen, not undermine, efforts to live with wolves. Member States should strengthen wolf protection, not weaken it.
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Trees for Spain’s bears: Cherries and plums for a peaceful coexistence
Broken branches, plundered cherry trees, a pile of droppings in the meadow - it's impossible to overlook: a powerful animal has been at work here. "This bear has to go!" hisses the owner of the property in Villarino del Sil, a village in the northern Spanish province of León. It won't be easy to placate him.
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Bern Convention: Skavica dam in Albania contradicts the Balkan Lynx Recovery Programme
The Bureau of the Convention recently accepted a new complaint and urged the Albanian authorities to not develop projects which may negatively affect habitats and species.
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Better protection for the Balkan lynx
++ The Conference on the Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) takes place in Uzbekistan ++ The Balkan lynx is now also included in the agreement ++ Range states commit to measures to protect the critically endangered cat ++
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Brown bear freed from snare trap
In Albania, a female bear has been freed alive after being caught for week in a snare trap. The joint rescue operation is an excellent example of successful cross-border cooperation between Albanian and Greek conservationists.
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