Popular Initiative Against the Wolf in Valais
CVP launches initiative “For a Canton of Valais Without Large Predators”: wolf, lynx, and bear are to be banned.
Circles from the problem party CVP launched an initiative “For a Canton of Valais Without Large Predators” in Brig on 3 May 2016.
This demands that the import, release, and promotion of bear, wolf and lynx be explicitly prohibited.
The initiators have the wolf primarily in their sights, as they explained at a press briefing.
“The people of Valais must be given the chance to clearly express their views on the presence of predators,” said Diego Clausen, parliamentary group leader of the CSP Oberwallis. The wolf, he noted, has long since ceased to be merely a problem for shepherds in Valais.
Sheep kills in the immediate vicinity of residential areas are the first signs of overpopulation and highlight the danger posed by the wolf, said Alex Schwestermann, party president of CSP Oberwallis. Furthermore, the mountain cantons must not be allowed to deteriorate into a nature reserve in which daily life is made more difficult by decisions from Bern.
A Signal to Bern
Federal Bern must realise that the presence of predators such as bear, lynx, and wolf is not merely the problem of a few shepherds, but of a large part of the Valais population. By adopting the initiative, the people of Valais could send a corresponding signal to Bern.
The initiative seeks to amend the Valais cantonal constitution so that the canton enacts “provisions for protection against predators and for limiting and regulating their populations.”
It goes without saying that the provisions to be enacted are bound by the limits set by federal law. In any case, however, it is demanded that the import, release, and promotion of predators be explicitly prohibited.
Submission Ideally Still in 2016
The initiative text will be published in the cantonal official gazette on Friday. The deadline for collecting the 6,000 required signatures therefore ends on 8 May 2017.
According to the initiators, their goal is to collect as many signatures as possible by next autumn so that the initiative can be submitted still within this year.
The initiative committee consists primarily of politicians from the CVP and the CSP Upper Valais, including national politicians such as National Councillor Viola Amherd, Council of States member Beat Rieder, and National Councillor Roberto Schmidt.
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