After a decision by the State Council that outlaws several traditional bird hunting techniques, the government on Wednesday, September 15, issued several consultation orders to allow some of these hunts, claiming that they comply with European law.
At the beginning of August, the Council of State canceled several hunting permits for crested bibs, golden plover, lark, thrushes and blackbirds with nets (pantes, matoles) or cages (matoles), to judge “that these authorizations issued by the Minister responsible for the environment do not comply with the requirements of European legislation on the protection of birds”.
European guideline “birds” of 2009 prohibits mass capture techniques of birds without distinction of species. An exemption is possible “under the condition that they are properly motivated and since ‘there is no other satisfactory solution’ to capture certain birds”, recalled the Council of State.
Following this decision and three days of planned hunting demonstrations in various departments, the Ministry of Ecological Transition has put eight decrees for the 2021-2022 hunting season through October 6 for consultation.
They concern the catching of Northern Plover and Plover in the tenderie in the Ardennes, the catching of larks with claws in the Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Lot-et-Garonne, Landes and Gironde, the catching of larks from the fields to the matole in the Landes and Lot-et-Garonne and the capture of thrush and blackbird laces in the Ardennes.
This is “to overcome the debate on traditional hunts, allowing the judge to definitively decide on their compliance with the European legal framework on the preservation of birds”, argues the ministry.
“The new decrees in preparation remain illegal and the LPO will demand their immediate suspension before the Council of State if they are signed”, immediately reacted to the LPO (League for the Protection of Birds). Bird populations in cities and countryside have seen their populations collapse in France because of human activities, scientists warn.
For the LPO, it’s “to satisfy hunting lobbies with the approach of presidential elections”. “Hunting outside the legal framework is stealing”, states its president, Allain Bougrain Dubourg, in a press release.
The hunters are called to return to the streets on Saturday, after demonstrating in August and early September.