As state elections approach, it’s not just big issues like nitrogen, immigration and housing. One of the expressions on the gravel compass in seven of the twelve provinces is about the wolf. And the question is: should the wolf have a place in the Netherlands or not?
The wolf’s return to Dutch territory leads to political controversy and sometimes even polarization. “One of the things the wolf has become is a symbol of the gap between rural and urban areas,” says environmental philosopher Martin Drenthen, a fellow at Radboud University in Nijmegen.
When it comes to wolves, emotions run high here and there in the country. “There are threats in the lectures at the visitor centres, and there are groups driving each other crazy. “People who parrot each other instead of listening to each other,” Drenthen says.
The environmental philosopher thinks that we should also include “difficult” nature like the wolf in the Netherlands.
Emotions are running high, especially in Friesland. Fryske Nasjonale party FNP is under fire. The party had done little to limit wolf abuse.
FNP party leader Sijbe Knol said his party has actually been trying to limit harassment for the past four years. “Three years ago the wolf was already declared an ‘unwanted stranger’, but no wolves were shot.
trouble wolves
He calls for “the entire political sphere” to be shot. “You have to be elsewhere first to have this option (European laws and regulations, editor’s note). You have to be honest with people about what is possible and what is not.”
Femke Wiersma, the list distributor of the BBB (Boer Burger Movement) in Friesland, doesn’t have much patience with the wolf. The BBB in Friesland wants stricter rules and a shooting policy for the foreseeable future. He thinks of “troubled wolves” who repeatedly attack other animals.
“Not enough has been done to prevent the spread of the wolf. If you look at 2021 and 2022, you’ll see that prey numbers have doubled. Therefore, an active policy must be followed,” says Wiersma.
Conservation organization BIJ12, which collects data on wolves and the damage they cause, concluded earlier this year that wolf pack numbers may have doubled. The number of animals killed by wolves has also increased.
Environmental philosopher Drenten says, “The wolf has a rare ability to sharpen things. It is a resilient animal that not only stays clean in its territory, but also moves in cultural landscapes. The wolf forces us to adapt more than any other animal,” says environmental philosopher Drenten. “Many studies show that the wolf has become a symbol of undesirable changes in the world.”
FNP party leader Knol says that in the state of Friesland, this “undesirable stranger” is coming on top of already existing nitrogen problems, grid capacity issues and the space struggle.
Environmental philosopher Drenthen sees solutions to the wolf problem. “For example, we have to deal with this very pragmatically and protect livestock.”
Drenthen stresses that polarization doesn’t help. “The larger and more ideologically driven the polarization, the more people struggle with it. This is not how we solve the problem. These wolves will not go.”
FNP’s Knol also hopes that political parties will not be diametrically opposed, but instead work together. “We are not far from each other at all, together we have to make sure we achieve what we want.”
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
