Court orders Dutch government to immediately protect wolves on the Veluwe
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature must immediately consider granting special protection to wolves on the Veluwe, a court in The Hague ruled, rejecting the government’s plan to wait until 2029. The decision marks a legal victory for animal rights group De Faunabescherming, which had challenged the ministry's refusal to designate the area as protected under EU law, Omroep Gelderland reports.
The ministry, led by outgoing BBB State Secretary Jean Rummenie, had argued that new species must be present in the Netherlands for ten years before being considered for protected status. However, the court found that reasoning inconsistent and unjustified, especially since the ministry itself acknowledges that wolves are “permanently present” in the Veluwe nature reserve in Gelderland. Wolves have been back in the Netherlands for several years, and the first pups were born on the Veluwe in 2019. Seven wolf packs now roam the area.
De Faunabescherming initially requested the Veluwe be designated as a protected zone for wolves under the Natura 2000 framework, but the ministry denied the request last year. The organization appealed and won. If designated, the area would receive stricter protections: wolf dens could not be disturbed, and intensive hunting of the wolf's main prey—red deer, wild boar, and roe deer—would need to be limited.
"This is a very important ruling because it allows us to submit similar requests for other areas," Niko Koffeman, chair of De Faunabescherming, told Omroep Gelderland. He called the ruling "a major breakthrough" and noted that such protected zones are typically closed to the public when wolves have pups or display “undesirable behavior.”
Wolf expert Glenn Lelieveld welcomed the court’s decision. “Excellent news! And rightly so. The Netherlands simply wasn’t complying with the requirements of the Habitats Directive and the European Commission,” Lelieveld told the newspaper.
The ministry is reviewing the ruling and has not ruled out appealing. A spokesperson said it remains “existing policy” to wait ten years before evaluating which nature areas qualify for protection of newly arrived species. Although the wolf's protected status in Europe was weakened earlier this year, strict regulations still apply to disturbing or killing the animals.
