Finland’s Minister Essayah announces hunting regulation changes for large predators

Finland’s Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Sari Essayah, has announced measures to ease hunting regulations on large predators. This summer, a ministry working group simplified the hunting process by extending the validity of exceptional permits for wolf removal, now issued on a monthly basis. Additionally, hunters no longer need to specify the individual wolf they intend to hunt.

Further changes are expected as the EU revises an agreement based on the Bern Convention concerning large predator hunting. According to Essayah, wolves are classified as specially protected under this agreement, and it has been recognized that predator issues are not confined to individual nations but are a broader European problem. The upcoming revised agreement will influence national predator policies.

Essayah also indicated that the ministry’s working group is considering reforms related to managed wolf hunting, promising further easing of restrictions. During a visit to Kuusamo, on the reindeer herding boundaries, she heard stark reports about the predator situation, especially in the southern reindeer husbandry areas, which is described as catastrophic.

Juha Kujala, the reindeer herding chief from Oivangi, emphasized that the burden of predator hunting has shifted entirely to reindeer herders, as managed hunting is prohibited outside reindeer herding zones. He stated that some herding businesses devote 60-70 days a year to predator control, which he deems unreasonable. Kujala reported that there are currently 14 permits for wolf culling in the area, while herders have spent approximately €800,000 on predator hunting last year alone.

Kujala aims to halve the damages caused by predators within the next five years but insists that achieving this goal will require eliminating the predators. He noted that the predator pressure has surged dramatically over the past two years, leading to an increasingly unsustainable situation for reindeer herding in southern regions.