Council For Predator Issues

The Council for Predator Issues was established at the Swedish EPA in 2002 to facilitate the implementation of the Coherent Predator Policy laid down by the Swedish Parliament.

The parliamentary decision involved the creation of a forum at the EPA, and the establishment of regional predator groups by county administrative boards in counties with resident predator populations.

The Council's prime task is to deal with overall policy issues, surveys and development of predator populations. It is an advisory consultative body.

Regional Predator Groups

All counties having resident populations of large predators have established regional predator groups. Some counties frequently visited by predators have also formed groups; the scope for inter-county cooperation is being examined by other counties. There are 17 regional predator groups in all. Sweden has 21 counties.

The county administrative board in all counties appoints a chairman and have invited selected organisations to propose members. Hunters, voluntary nature conservationists, landowners, the police and prosecutors are represented. The groups comprise 10 – 17 individuals, including county administrative board representatives.

The tasks of the groups are to increase information exchange, facilitate multi-directional communication and act as advisor to the county administrative boards on issues such as management plans and regional interim predator targets.

Regional predator groups are organisationally separate from the county wildlife boards, although some members do belong to both groups. County wildlife boards have suggested that they are capable of dealing with predator issues themselves. The county administrative boards have emphasised that the predator groups represent a broader cross-section and have a greater responsibility for information.