Wow, I can't believe this is still going on. Thanks for reminding me. I signed this a couple of months ago, and I signed it again!! People really need to be educated when it comes to wolves. It makes me mad that people just go about exterminating things that they fear...or are unknown to them...
Help save the wolves!!!!
Here is also some news regarding the fate of the wolves in Norway...still doesn't look good :mad:
From WWF Global Network Newsroom
10 August, 2001
Forest-owners initiate anti-wolf campaign
Oslo, Norway 10 August 2001: Two of Norway's largest forest owner associations, Norskog and Viken, have initiated a campaign to make the wolf disappear from Norway.
The campaign focuses on this autumn's election, and aims to get a majority in the Parliament (Storting) to support the forest-owners' view. The campaign kicked off on Wednesday, with the forest-owners holding a rally in Rakkestad, Norway.
Members of - and candidates for - the Parliament were invited to the meeting, where an "expert panel" gave speeches and answered questions from the audience about wolf issues. The "expert panel" consisted only of people from the self-declared "anti-wolf" congregation, while pro-carnivore and environmental organisations were neither invited nor welcomed. WWF offers of participation were turned down.
Viken and Norskog's back up their views that wolves should be removed from Norway's forests with claims that the wolves feed on moose. According to them, this is a threat not only to the Norwegian moose populations, but also to the local communities and forest owners as they loose their income from sports-hunting, and other hunting activities.
However, given the current figures for the populations of moose and wolf, it is hard to subscribe to this point of view: The Norwegian Hunting and Fishing Association estimates the moose population to between 100,000 and 140,000 animals. Annually, hunters take some 40,000, which is fewer than recommended by scientists, as overgrazing by moose is a threat to forest productivity. Meanwhile, the Norwegian wolf population, according to the last official estimates, is down to 16 "fully-Norwegian" individuals. If one includes the family groups living on the border between Norway and Sweden, the figure is between 40 and 45.
Viken and Norskog sell their products mainly to Norske Skog ASA, in which both Viken and Norskog are shareholders. The company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of paper for print (magazines, newspaper etc.) and the majority of its exports go to UK and Germany. The whole chain, from forest to consumers, is eco-labelled under PEFC as coming from "sustainable operated forests?" Maybe it should be labelled: "coming from wolf-free forests?"
Viken and Norskog's anti-wolf campaign is also a direct violation of the agreed "Living Forest" policy, which is the basis for their eco-labelling. This policy explicitly states: "?, it (Norwegian forests) shall provide the basis for sustainable populations of species which naturally belong in the country."
Norske Skog accounts for 13% of the world's market in printing paper, with its customers including major companies like UK's Trinity Mirror and Germany's Axel Springer Verlag so be aware: Maybe your newspaper indirectly supports wolf extermination.
For further information:
Bjorn Tore Bjorsvik: email:
[email protected]