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Munich (dpa / lby) - In view of the increasing number of wolves in Europe, a transnational project aims to promote the protection of cattle herds in the Alpine region.
The organizers announced that herd protection measures are to be tested and implemented with farmers over the next five years.
Agricultural organizations with more than 16,000 members, many of them from the organic sector, are involved in Austria, Italy and Germany.
With the help of scientists and conservationists, they should take the initiative for herd protection themselves.
The number of wolves is increasing and farmers have to adjust to it, it said.
"Time is of the essence for herd protection and herd management to be taken seriously," said Max Rossberg of the European Wilderness Society.
There are also more and more wolves in Bavaria.
Again and again it was therefore demanded to loosen the strict protection of the wolf.
Alpine farmers in particular complain that they cannot protect their animals in the rough terrain.
Even in the higher mountains, protection is not an impossibility - and fences are not the solution everywhere, said Rossberg.
A lot of knowledge is available and should now be passed on in the project.
Within five years, more than 1000 farmers, herd protection advisors and shepherds were to receive training and further education.
20 herd protection competence centers are to be established in the three countries.
There, farmers could find out from colleagues how herd protection is possible in their case.
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20 wolf detection dogs are also to be trained.
They signal when a crack can be traced back to a wolf - and the farmer must exercise caution.
The LIFEstockProtect project has a budget of almost five million euros, with 3.6 million euros coming from the EU Commission.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210127-99-184816 / 2
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