In the preliminary debate on the citizens' initiative regarding wolf population control, which took place on 18 November 2020, Minister Leppä stated the following in Parliament: ‘The key to this matter is to define a favourable conservation status, which is practice is a threshold value above which the wolf population can be controlled by hunting. That is why I have given the Natural Resources Institute Finland the task of defining that threshold value, giving us access to this information as soon as possible and at the latest by the end of the summer.’

Tuomas Hallenberg, Chairman of the Finnish Hunters' Association, says: ‘The interim report from Luke has now been received, and earlier this summer, the Ministry's working group completed its work on the implementation methods for population control hunting. Now, as previously announced, we look forward to a proposal on population control hunting.’

Only in Finland are wolves not yet hunted

Wolves are being hunted in all the countries around Finland, while in Finland itself no decisions have yet been made on wolf hunting.

Norway has a population of over 100 wolves, and dozens of wolves have been hunted. In Sweden, an EU country, the favourable conservation status for wolves is 300, equal to 30 wolf packs, and population control hunting of wolves has begun. In the Baltic countries of the European Union, hundreds of wolves are hunted every year. In Russian Karelia, bounties are paid out for killing wolves. With the birth of more wolf cubs this year, the wolf population in Finland may have reached 500 this summer. We’re still waiting for the decisions.

The association studied the interim report and noted that the figures presented in the preliminary review seem to be surprisingly high compared to those for Sweden and Norway.

Last autumn, a citizens' initiative for the commencement of hunting for wolf population control was put together in record time and then delivered to Parliament. In the preliminary debate, the initiation of hunting was viewed as a matter of urgency. Several municipalities and cities have recently appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to initiate hunting of wolves. These societal needs must now be taken into account.

The Finnish Hunters' Association has encouraged hunters to make observations of wolves. Hunters also achieved a record-breaking collection of DNA samples, which led to a one-third increase in population estimates. The objective in this has been effective and transparent cooperation between different actors: ‘We should be seeking as a whole nation to make progress in this matter. For hunters, it is important that each body handles its own area of responsibility,’ concludes Finnish Hunters' Association Chairman Tuomas Hallenberg.

Further information:
Tuomas Hallenberg, Chairman of Finnish Hunters' Association, tel. +358 40 528 6069

 The main goal of the new alliance was to create rules to hunting, to promote respect for hunting laws and good hunting practices, and to educate hunters about the importance of game management. The Hunters' Association still carries out these same tasks for which it was founded a hundred years ago.

The new corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) is primarily transmitted as a droplet infection when an infected person coughs or sneezes. In close contact, the coronavirus can also be transmitted through contact if the patient, for example, has coughed into his hands and then touched another human being.  

Everyone can, with their own actions, reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus. In your daily life, you can prevent infection by maintaining hand hygiene and avoiding close contact with other people.  Five essentials on how to protect yourself and your loved ones from a coronavirus infection:

• If you get symptoms, go get tested for coronavirus and otherwise stay at home.
• Minimize contacts and remember to keep a distance of more than 2 metres to others.
• Wash your hands and cough in your sleeve.
• Wear a mask when you are in places where there are other people.
• Keep the Koronavilkku app on and follow its instructions.
• Get the vaccine when it's your turn

More information: 
Finnish Institute for health and welfare

Guidelines for various situations

The Finnish Hunters’ Association  has separate guidelines for various situations, but at the moment guidelines are only in Finnish. Ask for more information.

• For organizers of youth camps 
• For hunting clubs
• For organizers of shooting practice 
• For users of shooting ranges 
• For organizers of game shooting competitions
• Detailed instructions for various sports

The main problems with the restriction proposal are the lack of understanding of how the transfer of lead can be managed. The proposal also fails to take into account the measures based on scientific research. which are in accordance with best available techniques and which can already be used to prevent the transfer of lead from shooting range structures into the soil.

In order to illustrate the importance of shooting ranges, the basic principles of environmental protection and lead management methods, the Finnish Hunters' Association has prepared a video on shooting ranges together with the Finnish Shooting Sport Federation and other actors in the shooting sports. It aims to explain the importance of shooting ranges not only to the Chemicals Agency but also to everyone else. The lead restriction proposal would mean that in most shooting ranges, training would end completely or that the costs of maintaining ranges would increase dramatically, thereby making training more difficult and less frequent.

(Choose the english subtitles pressing subtitles/tekstitys)

The aim of the Chemicals Agency’s proposal for a lead restriction is to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of lead. This must be possible without reducing the opportunities for shooting sports and hunting. These objectives can only be achieved at the same time when decisions on the use of lead are taken on the basis of risk assessments specific to particular shooting ranges, with local conditions taken into account.
 

According to an estimate released by Luke on 9 June 2021, Finland had 32-38 packs of wolves and 279-321 individual wolves in March.

“The Finnish Hunter's Association feels that the significant growth in the wolf population enables the start of hunting for population control. Setting a limit to the growth of the population is justified”, says Tuomas Hallenberg, Chair of the Finnish Hunters’ Association.

In Sweden, 30 packs was set as the level of suitable protection. When the population there was larger, a hunt for population control was conducted last winter.

Hunters play very important role in producing population estimates

“Last winter hunters did much work both in finding wolf tracks, and in the collection of DNA samples throughout the country, for example in North and South Ostrobothnia and in southern parts of North Karelia. Nearly 80% more samples identified as those of wolves were collected than in the previous winter. The number of active collectors increased by a factor of 2.5”, says Hunter's Association executive director Jaakko Silpola.

In a recent population estimate Luke calculated with 90 percent probability that the number of individual wolves in Finland in 2021 was between 279 to 321 individual animals. In March last year the size of the population was estimated at 216 - 248 individuals.

“According to the 2020 forecast model, the number of wolves expected in Finland in March 2021 would have been 162 - 299, or 16-35 packs, and no significant growth in the population was expected. The growth of the wolf population from a year back has nevertheless been clear according to the fresh population estimate. In the view of the Association, the increase in the number of wolves in the new population estimate is in line with similar observations from the field. Thanks to the extensive and successful collection of DNA samples, the estimate of the wolf population is more reliable”, says Ere Grenfors, Wildlife Management and Conservation Manager at the Finnish Hunters’ Association.

According to Luke's forecast model for predicting the development of the wolf population, the number of wolf territories is likely to increase further. The Luke forecast formula predicts with a probability of 90 percent, that the size of the wolf population in early July 2021 will be 391 - 515 individuals. The Finnish Hunters’ Association now feels that it is very important to allow hunting for population control in the coming winter to prevent harm caused by the wolves. Already last year, moose hunting in many areas did not start until after the snow fell, making it possible to locate wolf packs to protect dogs.

The Finnish Hunters’ Association has set the improvement of conditions for hunting with dogs, and the securing of the Finnish culture of hunting with dogs, as its most acute issue by starting a population management hunt for wolves.

Further information:

Executive director Jaakko Silpola, tel. +358 50 406 4836, jaakko.silpolametsastajaliitto.fi ()
Wildlife Management and Conservation Manager Ere Grenfors, tel. +358 50 569 8916, ere.grenforsmetsastajaliitto.fi ()

Rule 1: All guns are always loaded
The only exception to this occurs when one has a weapon in his hands and he has personally unloaded it for checking. As soon as he puts it down, Rule 1 applies again.

Rule 2: Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not prepare to destroy

You may not wish to destroy it, but you must be clear in your mind that you are quite ready to if you let that muzzle cover the target. To allow a firearm to point at another human being is a deadly threat, and should always be treated as such.

Rule 3: 
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target

This we call the Golden Rule because its violation is responsible for about 80 percent of the firearms disasters we read about.

Rule 4: Be sure of your target

You never shoot at anything until you have positively identified it. You never fire at a shadow, or a sound, or a suspected presence. You shoot only when you know absolutely what you are shooting at and what is beyond it.
 

 The decision could ban the use of lead shot in hunting and sport shooting in most of Finland and cause hunters serious legal problems. However, the European Parliament can still reject this proposal.

The Commission's proposal on lead shot will now be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council of Europe for a three-month inspection procedure, approved by the EU Member States' REACH Committee. The European Parliament's task is to exercise its powers of scrutiny as a representative of European citizens and as an EU institution. Parliament still has the power to reject this non-functioning proposal. 

If the proposal is approved in the European Parliament's inspection procedure, it will be included in the REACH Regulation and enter into force in all EU Member States in the form in which it is written.

The lead shot restriction is impossible

The European Chemicals Agency  (ECHA)'s Implementation  Forum noted at an early stage that the proposed Ramsar definition creates serious implementation problems. Ramsar is a global wetland agreement between states. During the official decision-making process, the ECHA forum was consulted, but its advice was not taken into account, as were several other recommendations.

With regard to the definition of wetlands, the Committee for Socio-Economic Analyzes within ECHA (SEAC) noted that the inclusion of peatlands would lead to several difficulties in identifying wetlands in the field. Hunters need to know if they are following the restriction or not. If the hunter uses lead or even carries it with him, there is always a risk that he or she moves unnoticed on the wetland or within the protection zone of 100 meters that is included in the restriction proposal. 

The hunters' association reminds that it is good to understand that a pool of water of one square meter formed after a heavy rain together with a protection zone of 100 meters forms a three hectare "wetland". These situations cannot be defined in advance, so it would be impossible to apply the restriction in practice.

ECHA's SEAC Committee also addressed the issues of banning the possession of lead shot in a wetland protection zone, as well as ECHA's implementation forum. The Forum's opinion emphasized serious doubts about including holdings in the scope of REACH, as it deals with the production, placing on the market or use of economic operators, but not the holdings of ordinary citizens. Why was this advice ignored?

Despite four failed attempts, the Commission has once again forwarded the proposal to the REACH Committee instead of ensuring that it works for European hunters, marksmen and farmers. In these times, it is necessary for the EU institutions, in particular the European Commission, to try to build trust in European citizens instead of creating great confusion and legal uncertainty. 

A total ban on lead shot is not an option for Finland

Finland is one of the EU member states whose area according to the Ramsar definition is at least 20 percent wetland areas. Due to this, Finland has two different options for implementing the ban on lead shot. The first option is to introduce a ban on lead shot in Ramsar wetlands in the way decided by the EU, and to allow the use of lead shot in other areas. Then the transition period is 2 years. The second option is to make a national decision and ban the use of lead shot and its placing on the market, which would mean a transition period of 3 years.

"Immediately after the decision, the Swedish Hunters' Association contacted members of parliament and ministries and emphasized the reasons why the Finnish Hunters' Association absolutely opposes the total ban on lead shot if the EU Parliament approves the regulation as such," emphasizes Tuomas Hallenberg, chairman of the Swedish Hunters' Association .

Even if an excessive definition of wetlands excludes large areas in Finland from the use of lead shot, it still leaves the possibility of using lead shot on shooting ranges that are not within the Ramsar area's area of ​​influence. In addition, lead shot can also be used in areas outside wetlands, for example in crow hunting. It would also be possible to hunt, for example, ring doves in certain areas.

The use of lead shot has been banned in Finland in seabird hunting since 1996. In the now approved proposal, wetlands according to the Ramsar definition, in addition to water areas, are also peatlands. One third of Finland's land area is peatland and in the north there are relatively more peatlands than in southern Finland. If Finland were to opt for a total ban on lead shot, it would prevent the use of lead shot cartridges not only for hunting but also for training and competition use on all shooting ranges.

Many of the alternative hunting cartridges that replace lead are significantly more expensive than lead shot cartridges. In addition, Finnish hunters have a large number of older shotguns whose usefulness and value the ban on lead would have a major impact on. 

From the very beginning to the end, the Swedish Hunters' Association has opposed the EU decision now taken. The Swedish Hunters' Association does not oppose the proposal because we have to abolish the use of lead shot in the real habitats of waterfowl, but because the now approved proposal does not make sense. Finland has also opposed the Commission's proposal throughout the process, and this guideline has been approved by both the Riksdag's Environment and Forestry Committee.

If the European Parliament nevertheless approves the Commission's proposal on the use of lead shot, the Swedish Hunters' Association demands that the ban on lead shot be introduced only in those areas where it is necessary. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that both hunters and the authorities receive adequate training and advice while continuing the necessary research on the subject.