Minister of Agriculture says that shepherds are right about wolf attacks

O minister of Agriculture said today that the shepherds “are absolutely right” about the damage caused by the Iberian wolf in the flocks and that the government “is doing everything” to compensate them.

“ The shepherds are absolutely right. I told you we can't get the pastor to work for the wolf. The pastor must have his income”, said José Manuel Fernandes.

The ruler, who spoke in the margins of a forum on extensive pastoral care, which took place today in Arcos de Valdevez, in the district of Viana do Castelo, said that he has worked together with the Minister of the Environment to find measures to compensate the pastors.

About a dozen cattle farmers in the North region have today concentrated at the door of the House of Arts, where the forum took place, and when the minister gave statements to the journalists, saying that only by removing the Iberian wolves, a protected species, the problem is solved.

José Manuel Fernandes said he has “worked together with the Minister for Environment and Energy” to find solutions that mitigate the situation.

He pointed out the case “of the compensations that have been updated”, passing “triple” of the amount so far paid to the pastors.

“ Now it's no use moving to triple or tenth if they don't arrive in time. The Minister for Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, who is an ally of agriculture and territorial cohesion, gave the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) 30 days to analyze additional measures,” she added.

The “additional measures” go through the existence of natural prey for the wolf, the implementation of fences that protect the herds, the support of dogs, but the Minister of Agriculture said that it is necessary to consider the specificities of each region to implement them.

“I insist a lot on this word: specificities. It is not possible to put fences everywhere, it is not possible to have dogs everywhere and therefore we have to have a strong action here, it is what we have accomplished, in relation to the pastors that are absolutely essential ", pointed out.

José Manuel Fernandes stressed that “the pastor puts food on the table, guarantees food security, does a work of biodiversity, with the reduction of fuel material, reducing the risk of fires”.

“ This is not always recognized, and sometimes we do not always recognize this value, and this work, as I have said, is public goods, European public goods, help the quality of soil, water quality, environmental sustainability, territorial cohesion,” he said.

The minister argued “that when an animal is the victim of a wolf, the shepherd should be compensated” and was questioned by one of the cattle farmers who said that “the attacks of the wolf are increasingly frequent”, and that “they do not want compensation, they want their animals and the wolf out of the territory”.

José Manuel Fernandes stressed that “it is necessary to have the real perception of the farmer’s work and the pastor”.

“ There must be the real perception of their work in national terms, because there are many people who do not have the perception of this work that is competitiveness, it is food on the plate, it is food security, it is environmental sustainability, it is biodiversity and, therefore, it must have a remuneration also because of these public goods that all help us ", emphasized.

Addressing the Minister of Agriculture, the spokesperson of the Union of Cattle Producers Lesados por Lobos (UPGALL) said that “still” believes that José Manuel Fernandes can help them, hope they no longer have in the Minister of the Environment.