El llop al Pirineu

(ENG) The sighting in 2004 of the first wolf in Catalonia for almost 70 years is an indication of the healthy state of our ecosystems and of the efforts on the part of the inhabitants to preserve and improve these. At the same time it shows a heightened conscientiousness in society on the need to preserve our natural heritage, as the improvements in environmental legislation prove. The important function of the wolf as a predator is an argument in favour of its conservation as it will enable other predators to be controlled that up until now have only had man as their enemy, such as the fox or wild dogs. At the same time it will help to control the expansion of ungula species such as the wild boar, deer or muflons, eliminating sick or old individuals. The monitoring of the wolf will involve the one or two that have visited us so far and in the future this may be more geared toward the expansion dynamic of its population as directed on a European level, not only in the Cadí-Moixeró but also in other areas of Catalonia and Andorra. This monitoring must be based on the objectivity given by the field data collected by experts, on transparency when it comes to passing on information on the data gathered, as the Department for Environment and Housing has done so far, and on the will to make stockbreeding in our mountains compatible with the conservation of one of the most emblematic and important species in our ecosystems. The stockbreeders cannot be left to cope alone with the responsibility concerning the existence of the wolf, society as a whole, through the Administrations, needs to be jointly responsible. The coordination between Andorra, Catalonia and France needs to help to face this challenge, making the most of the French experiences and facilitating the exchange of information and decision making on the management of the wolf. The millennial coexistence of man and wolf in many areas in Spain, such as in Castilla-Leon, Galicia and Asturias, or in central Italy, as nearby examples, must give us hope in achieving this complex but not impossible balance between man and wolf. The challenge is an attractive one and one in which we must all participate, avoiding no-dialogue situations. The future of our natural heritage deserves this effort.