Crisis in Nature Conservation: Political Currents and the Decline of Scientific Integrity at BAFU

The silent purge – how Albert Rösti is putting the brakes on wolf protection at BAFU.

Editorial Wild beim Wild — 15 June 2025

With the advertisement for the Vice Directorate «Biological Diversity» at the Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU), yet another chapter in a troubling personnel policy appears to be unfolding.

The illness-related absence of Franziska Schwarz, now followed by her permanent departure at the end of September, is part of a series of prominent exits within the directorate responsible for wildlife – and in particular for the sensitive management of wolves.

What may initially appear to be normal staff turnover reveals, on closer inspection, a disturbing pattern: since Federal Councillor Albert Rösti (SVP) assumed office as head of the UVEK at the beginning of 2023, the senior personnel of the wildlife section have effectively been replaced. Following the early departure of Reinhard Schnidrig, an internationally respected wildlife biologist and long-standing head of the section, his deputy soon followed – and now Franziska Schwarz. Officially, «strategic differences» and «personal reasons» are cited. Yet the context suggests otherwise: these differences are political.

Rösti, who represents with the SVP a party that regards the wolf exploited for years as a symbol of an alleged urban eco-dictatorship, appears to be systematically removing the specialists who advocate for science-based, integrative wildlife management. Schnidrig had, for instance, called for at least 20 wolf packs – a figure justified by ecological carrying capacity and genetic viability. Rösti instead pushed through 12 packs – a politically motivated figure without professional backing, as even Schnidrig critically noted.

The disempowerment of scientifically oriented professionals is dangerous. For it does not occur openly in dispute, but insidiously – through restructurings, strategic disagreements and personnel reshuffles. What appears technocratic on paper is in reality a targeted political interference in nature conservation – with consequences for biodiversity and public trust in the environmental administration.

The wolf has long been more than a wild animal. It stands symbolically for the question of whether we are prepared to allow even those life forms that are not subject to our control – and whether nature conservation continues to be guided by scientific principles or becomes political fodder.

What is currently unfolding within the BAFU is nothing less than a regression. It is a dismantling of ecological progress – orchestrated by a Federal Councillor who sacrifices scientific integrity in favour of populist interests.

It is time to question this course. Not only the wolf is in danger – but the credibility of an entire environmental department, writes Wolf Facts Schweiz.

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