The Superior Court of Justice of Asturias has rejected the request for precautionary measures presented by Ecoloxistes n'Aición d'Asturies and the Platform for the Defense of the Cantabrian Mountain Range, with which it sought to halt the wolf control plan in Asturias corresponding to the 2026-2027 season.
As pointed out by the Artemisan Foundation, the ruling of the TSJA supports that the control action program continues to be applied while the main judicial procedure is being resolved. The court understands that the general interest defended by the Administration of the Principality, the Artemisan Foundation, and various organizations, including the Asturian Rural Union (URA) and the Association of Farmers and Ranchers (GANAGRI), must take precedence.
The ruling expressly emphasizes the obligation to consider the situation of ranchers and to prevent the serious damage that wolf attacks cause to livestock. At the same time, it recognizes that the conservation of the wolf cannot be addressed without assessing the impact that its presence has on livestock operations and on the affected rural communities.
The ruling incorporates the reports provided by the Artemisan Foundation and the Asturian Administration, among other parties involved, in which it is stated that the wolf population in Asturias is in a favorable conservation status. Among other data, it mentions the increase in litters detected since the 1990s, the rise in groups with confirmed reproduction, and the positive evolution of the species even with the extractions carried out during these years.
The Artemisan Foundation positively values this judicial decision and the fact that its allegations, focused on the good conservation status of the species, the compatibility of the control program with the maintenance of the population, the magnitude and sustainability of the damage to livestock, and the need to weigh all the interests involved to maintain control measures that reduce harm to the livestock sector and other species, are explicitly acknowledged.
The COAG-Asturias union has also expressed its satisfaction with the ruling and highlights that "against salon ecology, COAG-Asturias led a firm opposition in the courts that dismantled, one by one, the arguments of the plaintiff associations."
"The excellent results obtained in this judicial Auto are due to the solidity of the theses defended by the organization," they have valued from the agrarian organization.
For its part, the Board of Directors of Unión Rural Asturiana (URA) has expressed its satisfaction with the resolution and has emphasized that this pronouncement represents a relevant provisional victory for the Asturian farmers, for the professional agrarian organizations, and for all the entities that have worked together in the defense of the rural environment.
URA has recalled that they have been upholding an idea for years that, they claim, is once again reflected in the judicial decision: "ecologism does not exclusively hold the representation of the general interest."
"Those who live, work, and maintain the territory also defend the general interest. The conservation of nature cannot be built by ignoring those who inhabit the rural environment, nor by regulating their future from offices or watchtowers far removed from the daily reality of the towns and livestock farms," they have pointed out from the organization.