Legal Aspects of (Re) I ntroduction of Large Herbivores

1. Legal Aspects of (Re)Introduction of Large Herbivores Law Master’s thesis Willemijn Oudenaarden The Netherlands

2. Motives for this project • Give overview of applicable rules and regulations • Show bottlenecks • In law • In practice • Give possible solutions for bottlenecks and problems • Call attention to LHF’s work and legal problems during (re)introduction of large herbivores

3. Scope of project • Three phases in process of (re)introduction: • Transport • Release • After release • Focus on EU law, illustrated with examples of Dutch national law • Bovıne anımals as an example • (Re)introduction in and from EU countries only • Regulation divided into three main jurisdictions: • Veterinary regulations/laws • Animal-welfare regulations/laws • Nature-conservation regulations/laws

4. Phase 1 - Transport • Emphasis on veterinary regulation - Prevent and fight animal diseases • Dedomesticated animals: under jurisdiction of ‘normal’ law, like production animals • Wild herbivores: unclear under which jurisdiction • Council regulation (EC) 1/2005 does not apply to (re)introduction: no protection of animal-welfare during transport

5. Phase 2 – Release • Emphasis on nature-conservation regulation • Habitat directive, protected animals, Natura2000 areas • (Re)introduction may not harm protected species or areas: consider different interests • Lot of responsibility for national government • Dutch law: not allowed to release animals in the wild. But: exemptions possible

6. Phase 3 – After release • No emphasis: all jurisdictions equally important: • Regular veterinary regulation, but with exemptions • Nature-conservation regulation important for some species and areas • Animal-welfare regulation: Oostvaardersplassen in the Netherlands (ICMO) • Unclear whether animals are kept (like e.g. domesticated farm cows) or non-kept animals

7. Main conclusions I • Lots of rules from different jurisdictions • Emphasis shifts during phases • Terminology is unclear • Different rules are applied to dedomesticated animals and wild animals • Unclear which rules should be applied to wild animals • ‘Normal rules’ are generally applied to dedomesticated animals • But: neither is covered by the law

8. Main conclusions II • Unclear whether Habitat directive is also applicable to protected animals that are born in captivity (and are not ‘taken from nature’) • There is a hiatus in protection of animal-welfare during (re)introduction, especially during transport • European nature-conservation regulation prescribes (re)introduction, but there is no suitable veterinary regulation and animal-welfare regulation

9. Recommendations • Recognition of gaps, contradictions and unclarity in regulation • Fill in the hiatus that exists in protection of animal welfare, for example with help of the Council of Europe • Create a directive on (re)introduction of large herbivores in Europe, for example with help of Council of Europe • Create a new category of animals in European law to cover both dedomesticated and wild animals, e.g. ‘nature animals’ • Apply same regulation on dedomesticated and wild animals, since both are in (re)introduction process

10. Consideration During (re)introduction one has to navigate between the different European jurisdictions. (Re)introduction derives from nature-conservation regulation, but cannot exist without appropriate veterinary regulation and animal-welfare regulation. Recognizing that these three jurisdictions affect each other and depend on each other for (re)introduction is the first step towards the solution of bottlenecks and simplifying the legal aspects of the LHF’s work.

11. Miracles – Walt Whitman “Why, who makes much of a miracle? As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water Or stand under trees in the woods Or sit at table at dinner with the rest Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car Or watch honey bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon Or animals feeding in the fields Or birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quit and bright Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring; These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place”