# Ten Drenthe mayors ask the state to study wolf zones

> Ten of Drenthe's twelve mayors want the national government to examine area-based wolf management, and State Secretary Silvio Erkens visits the province on Tuesday.

Politics · published 2026-11-02 07:39 · https://nlnow.nl/a/drenthe-mayors-ask-the-state-to-study-a-managed-wolf/

Ten of the twelve Drenthe mayors want the national government to investigate whether the wolf can be managed by area, as is done for wild boar, with designated habitats and zero-population areas. Outside those areas, they write, more weight should go to protecting people, kept animals, agriculture and the cultural landscape.

State Secretary Silvio Erkens (VVD) has accepted an invitation to make a working visit to Drenthe. He arrives on Tuesday and will also talk to the mayors.

The municipalities are not asking for immediate action. They want their ideas to be investigated fully. The national government is working on a new vision for the wolf, and the mayors say this is an ideal moment to include the study.

The request is in a joint letter to the agriculture and nature ministry (LVVN), which asks for a new and stricter approach to the wolf. The mayors of Tynaarlo and Hoogeveen did not sign it.

> We want a Drenthe where nature has room, but where people can also keep moving safely and freely.
> — Drenthe mayors, in their letter

The mayors say the social and emotional consequences must weigh more heavily in wolf policy. The wolf's presence is growing, they say, and its impact cannot be expressed in damage figures alone, such as those from BIJ12.

## Background

- **BIJ12**: The joint implementing organisation of the twelve Dutch provinces. Among other things it handles compensation for damage caused by protected wildlife and keeps track of the wolf population.
- **LVVN (Ministerie van Landbouw, Visserij, Voedselzekerheid en Natuur)**: The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature is the Dutch government department responsible for farming, fisheries, food safety and food supply, and nature policy. It handles issues such as agricultural policy, animal welfare in farming, and the protection of nature and species. In matters like the wolf, it sets national rules on protected species and how wolf populations are managed, which local authorities and provinces must then apply.

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