Cantonal popular initiative: Canton of Lucerne

«For professional wildlife protection»

Constitutional initiative in the form of a drafted proposal

Pursuant to §20 and §22 of the Constitution of the Canton of Lucerne of 17 June 2007 and the Voting Rights Act

Submitted by the initiative committee [date of submission]

Text of the initiative

The undersigned, persons entitled to vote in the Canton of Lucerne, submit the following constitutional initiative:

The Constitution of the Canton of Lucerne of 17 June 2007 is amended by adding the following paragraphs:

§ [new] Professional wildlife protection

1 The practice of hunting by private individuals (territorial hunting, recreational hunting) is prohibited throughout the entire territory of the Canton of Lucerne. Existing hunting lease agreements will not be renewed.

2 The protection, care and, where necessary, regulation of wild animals shall be the exclusive responsibility of professionally trained wildlife managers employed by the canton.

3 The killing of wild animals is only permitted as a last resort, when all other suitable measures for preventing damage or averting danger have been exhausted or are insufficient. It requires prior approval by the Wildlife Commission.

4 The canton shall establish an independent Wildlife Commission, composed of representatives of animal welfare and nature conservation organisations, the scientific community and the authorities concerned. The commission shall oversee wildlife management and decide on regulatory measures.

5 The canton shall promote the natural regulation of wildlife populations, the connectivity of habitats and the coexistence of humans and wild animals.

6 The canton compensates the municipalities for the loss of their share of the hunting lease revenues within the framework of implementing legislation.

7 Further details shall be regulated by law.

§ [new] Protection of endangered and protected wild animal species

1 The canton refrains from regulating populations of protected wild animal species pursuant to Art. 7a of the Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Wild Mammals and Birds and does not grant kill permits for individual animals of protected species pursuant to Art. 12 para. 2 of this Act, in particular not for wolf, lynx, bear, beaver, otter, golden jackal, golden eagle, goosander and other species protected under federal law. Paragraph 3 remains reserved.

2 It relies on fostering coexistence between humans and wild animals, passive damage prevention, the ecological enhancement of habitats and the scientific monitoring of wild animal presence.

3 Measures against individual wild animals that pose an immediate and significant danger to humans remain reserved. They are to be limited to the minimum necessary and carried out by the canton's competent specialist authority.

4 The canton actively advocates for the protection and preservation of endangered wild animal species within the framework of inter-cantonal cooperation and towards the Confederation.

Transitional provision

1 The cantonal government shall issue the necessary implementing provisions within two years of the adoption of this constitutional amendment.

2 Existing hunting lease agreements expire at the end of the current eight-year lease period and are not renewed.

3 The Council of State ensures the continuity of wildlife management during the transition phase and regulates the compensation of the municipalities for the loss of their share of the hunting lease revenues.

Explanatory notes

1. Starting position

In the Canton of Lucerne, the only territorial-hunting canton in Central Switzerland, with around 420,000 inhabitants across an area of 1,493 km², today's recreational hunting is a system that serves neither species conservation nor modern wildlife management. It is the pursuit of a bloody leisure pastime at the expense of sentient beings, legitimised by outdated narratives that do not withstand scientific scrutiny. The claim that without recreational hunting the ecological balance would collapse has been empirically disproven for over 50 years by the Geneva model (see the comprehensive dossier on the Geneva hunting ban on wildbeimwild.com).

Recreational hunting in Lucerne is organised as territorial hunting. The canton leases the hunting grounds to hunting associations through the district municipalities for eight-year hunting periods each, with the lease payment split equally between the canton and the municipalities (§ 6 and § 10 Hunting Act LU). Contrary to the widespread claim, hunting associations do not assume ecological responsibility, but act within the framework of cantonal kill quotas that are primarily oriented towards the interests of forestry and agriculture (cf. the The Psychology of Recreational Hunting in the Canton of Lucerne as well as the critical analysis of hunting training on wildbeimwild.com).

At the same time, increasing numbers of protected wild animal species are coming under pressure at federal level. The revision of the hunting act in December 2022 introduced preventive regulation of the wolf. Since February 2025, cantons have been able to authorise the killing of individual beavers that cause significant damage (Art. 9d JSV). Political pressure on other species such as the lynx, otter and goosander is steadily increasing. The wolf is present on Mount Pilatus and in central Switzerland. The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch is home to a rich wild animal fauna. The lynx is native to the Lucerne pre-Alps. The beaver inhabits the Reuss, the Kleine Emme and other waterways (cf. the analysis of hunting policy on wildbeimwild.com and the wolf policy on wildbeimwild.com).

The canton of Lucerne has the opportunity to send a clear signal here: not only for professional wildlife protection instead of recreational hunting, but also for the consistent protection of endangered wild animal species at cantonal level.

2. The role model: canton of Geneva

On 19 May 1974, a good 70 percent of voters in the canton of Geneva voted to abolish militia-style recreational hunting. Before the ban, big game in the canton had been practically wiped out: red deer and wild boars had been absent for decades, and only a few dozen roe deer remained. Over 400 recreational hunters released large numbers of pheasants, grey partridges and hares for recreational hunting.

The experience since the recreational hunting ban has been unequivocal:

Biodiversity has increased markedly. The number of overwintering waterfowl has multiplied from a few hundred to around 30,000. Geneva is now home to the largest brown hare population and one of the last grey partridge populations in Switzerland.
The roe deer population has settled at a healthy level, with an annual special kill by professional game wardens of only 20 to 36 animals. The population moves within a density that is sustainable for the forest area.
The ban has been in force continuously for over 50 years. Geneva has never repealed it.
The total cost of professional wildlife management in Geneva amounts to around 1.2 million francs annually, split into approximately 600,000 francs for personnel (around three full-time positions, shared among roughly a dozen environmental officers), 250,000 francs for prevention, and 350,000 francs for damage compensation. This corresponds to around 2.40 francs per resident per year.

The long-serving Geneva fauna inspector Gottlieb Dandliker (2001 to 2025) described the recreational hunting ban as the most financially favourable alternative for the canton. A detailed account can be found in the dossier «Geneva and the hunting ban» on wildbeimwild.com.

The efficiency of the Geneva model becomes clear in a direct comparison: a professional game warden in Geneva needs on average 8 hours and a maximum of 2 cartridges for a sanitary kill of a wild boar. A recreational hunter in the canton of Zurich needs 60 to 80 hours and up to 15 cartridges for the same task. The density of brown hares in Geneva is 17.7 animals per 100 hectares (the highest in Switzerland), whereas in the canton of Zurich it is only 1.0 per 100 hectares (cf. fact check by the Zurich Cantonal Council).

3. The concept: professional wildlife wardens instead of recreational hunting

The initiative does not replace recreational hunting with a vacuum, but with professional wildlife management based on the game warden model. This model is founded on the following principles:

Professional expertise instead of leisure pursuit. Professional wildlife managers act on a scientific basis, with biological training and within the framework of a cantonal service mandate. Their goal is to maintain healthy wildlife populations, not to maximise kill numbers. By contrast, recreational hunting, by its very nature, pursues the interest of securing its own raison d'être through high populations of huntable species (see the critical analysis of hunting training on wildbeimwild.com).

Last-resort principle. A kill is only permitted once all non-lethal measures have been exhausted. These include electric fences, deterrence, habitat design, relocation, taste repellents and structural protective measures. In Geneva, fruit trees are protected with netting to prevent roe deer and hares from gnawing the bark. For wild boars, the canton provides farmers with electric fences. This practice shows that coexistence is a matter of will, not technical feasibility.

Democratic oversight through a wildlife commission. The independent commission, composed of animal and nature conservation organisations, scientists and authorities, prevents political pressure from individual interest groups from diluting wildlife management. The initiative consistently enshrines this protective mechanism by constitutionally anchoring the approval requirement of the wildlife commission.

Natural self-regulation as a guiding principle. Experience from Geneva, from national parks and from numerous scientific Studies has proven: wildlife populations regulate themselves in most cases. Recreational hunting disrupts this natural process by destroying social structures, artificially increasing reproduction rates and altering migratory movements.

4. Why Lucerne?

The canton of Lucerne is particularly well suited to introducing professional wildlife protection for several reasons:

The only territorial hunting canton in central Switzerland. If professional wildlife protection works in Lucerne, it will work in every territorial hunting canton in German-speaking Switzerland. The hunting leases expire after eight years in any case, so the system change can be timed to coincide with the end of a lease period.

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch. The Entlebuch has been recognised as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve since 2001. It is home to a rich wildlife fauna, including lynx, red deer and numerous protected bird species. Professional wildlife management would strengthen the ecological significance of the biosphere reserve and implement the UNESCO mandate more consistently than recreational hunting (cf. wildbeimwild.com on national parks and protected areas).

Wolf at Pilatus. The wolf has been documented at Mount Pilatus and in Central Switzerland. The wolf kills in Central Switzerland have politicised the debate. The initiative offers a constitutional answer to the wolf debate: professional wildlife management instead of politically motivated kills (cf. the wolf policy on wildbeimwild.com).

5,000 signatures in one year. With 420,000 inhabitants, 5,000 signatures amounts to around 1.2 percent of the population. Signatures can be collected efficiently in Lucerne, Emmen, Kriens, Horw, Sursee and Willisau.

Beavers on the Reuss and Kleine Emme. The beaver has been documented along the Reuss, the Kleine Emme and other waterways. Since February 2025, cantons have been able to authorise the killing of individual beavers that cause significant damage. The initiative protects the beaver in the canton (see wildbeimwild.com on predators).

Tourism canton. Lucerne is one of Switzerland's most significant tourism cantons. The presence of wild animals in the landscape is a touristic asset. Experience in Geneva shows that wild animals in areas free of recreational hunting have a shorter flight distance and are more visible to recreationists. Professional wildlife protection increases the canton's appeal for nature tourism.

Lynx in the foothills of the Alps. The lynx is native to the Lucerne foothills of the Alps and naturally regulates the roe deer population. Professional wildlife management protects the lynx and makes use of its ecological function.

5. On the text of the initiative

Paragraph 1: Ban on recreational hunting

The ban on territorial hunting by private individuals is the core of the initiative. It corresponds to the Geneva model. Cantonal competence in this matter is undisputed: the federal Hunting Act (JSG) explicitly leaves the organisation of hunting operations to the cantons (Art. 3 para. 1 and 2 JSG). Switzerland's three hunting systems (licence hunting, territorial hunting and state or administered hunting) are equivalent. The canton of Geneva has practised administered hunting since 1974 in conformity with federal law. Existing hunting lease agreements expire at the end of the lease period, and the canton compensates the municipalities for their share of the lease payments.

Paragraph 2: Professional wildlife management

Instead of recreational hunters, professionally trained wildlife managers employed by the canton take over all tasks of wildlife care and, where necessary, population regulation. These specialists have a more comprehensive biological or wildlife-ecological education and act on a scientific basis and in the public interest. In Geneva, this system has proven itself for over 50 years.

Paragraph 3: Kill as a last resort

The central innovation compared to the current system: a kill is not the rule, but the exception. Passive measures take priority. In Geneva, an average of around 250 wild boars are killed annually by game wardens (according to FOEN hunting statistics), mainly young animals, with lead animals explicitly spared for ethical reasons and to preserve the social stability of the sounders.

Paragraph 4: Wildlife commission

The independent wildlife commission is modelled on Geneva's commission for the regulation of fauna (Commission consultative de régulation de la faune). It ensures that animal welfare and nature conservation organisations have a say in regulation decisions and prevents the government from approving exceptions on its own and under pressure from interest groups. The involvement of science ensures that decisions are evidence-based and do not rest on the hunting-ideological myths with which the recreational hunting lobby has legitimised its practice for decades.

Paragraph 5: Natural regulation and coexistence

This paragraph enshrines the guiding principle of professional wildlife protection in the constitution: nature largely regulates itself when humans do not interfere with population dynamics through mass killing. The promotion of coexistence in Lucerne includes, in particular, the securing and networking of wildlife corridors along the Reuss and the Kleine Emme, the ecological enhancement of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch, and public education about how to behave towards wild animals.

Transitional provisions

The two-year deadline gives the cantonal government sufficient time to draft the implementing legislation, hire professional wildlife managers, and establish the wildlife commission. The existing Agriculture and Forestry Office (lawa) can serve as the institutional foundation. The system change can be scheduled for the end of an eight-year lease period, so that no current lease agreements need to be terminated prematurely.

6. On the second paragraph: Protection of endangered and protected wildlife species

The second paragraph is particularly relevant for Lucerne. The wolf is present at Pilatus and in central Switzerland. The lynx is native to the Prealps. The beaver inhabits the Reuss, the Kleine Emme, and other waterways. The UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch is home to numerous protected species. The species-protection paragraph enshrines the renunciation of regulation requests in the constitution and gives the canton a clear stance in the national debate.

The “insbesondere” (“in particular”) wording is designed as a dynamic reference to federal law. It ensures that cantonal protection automatically also applies to species that the federal legislator places under protection or on a regulation list in future, without the need for a constitutional amendment (see the analysis of wolf policy on wildbeimwild.com).

7. Cost Implications: A Concrete Budget for Lucerne

The Geneva reference budget

In Geneva, which at 282 km² is roughly five times smaller than Lucerne and has around 500,000 inhabitants, the total costs of professional wildlife management amount to around 1.2 million francs annually: approximately 600,000 francs for staff, approximately 250,000 francs for prevention, and approximately 350,000 francs for damage compensation.

Conservative Projection for Lucerne

For Lucerne, with an area of 1,493 km² and around 420,000 inhabitants, the following deliberately conservative cost estimate results. It calculates generously and takes into account the Prealpine and alpine regions (Entlebuch, Pilatus, Napf), the build-up of herd protection, and transitional management:

Personnel costs: 840,000 to 1,400,000 francs annually. Between 7 and 10 full-time positions are required. A full-time position in the cantonal service costs around 120’000 to 140’000 francs annually, including social security contributions and employer overheads. Lucerne is roughly five times larger than Geneva and topographically diverse: lowlands in the north, pre-Alps and Alps in the south (Entlebuch, Pilatus, Napf). The presence of wolves in Central Switzerland requires specialised management of predators.

Material costs: 180’000 to 300’000 francs annually. Equipment, vehicles, deterrent devices, monitoring infrastructure (camera traps, GPS transmitters), structural protection measures, electric fences and public relations work. In pre-Alpine and Alpine terrain, material costs are higher than in the lowlands.

Damage compensation: 100’000 to 250’000 francs annually. Mainly wild boar damage to agriculture, browsing damage in forests, beaver damage to waterways and any wolf predation losses. The higher estimate takes into account the increasing presence of wolves at Pilatus.

Herd protection start-up investment: 400’000 to 700’000 francs. In the first three to five years after the system change, a one-off initial investment in herd protection infrastructure is needed for the Entlebuch and Pilatus region: livestock guardian dog programmes, mobile fences, night-time enclosures, and shepherd training. This investment is not recurring and is amortised over three to five years. In the Lucerne lowlands, these costs are not necessary.

Total costs: 1’120’000 to 1’950’000 francs annually (gross, excluding the one-off initial investment in herd protection). This corresponds to around 2.65 to 4.65 francs per resident per year.

Compensatory reproduction and transition management

Compensatory reproduction (the artificially increased reproductive rate caused by hunting pressure) also affects the canton of Lucerne. Recreational hunting produces more births than it removes animals. After the system change, active transitional management is needed in the first three to five years to bring the population density back down to a natural level. Professional game wardens take on this task on a scientific basis and without any economic self-interest.

8. On the initiative process in the canton of Lucerne

In the canton of Lucerne, a popular initiative at constitutional level requires the collection of 5'000 signatures within one year of official publication (§ 20 and § 22 para. 1 KV LU). The Cantonal Council decides on acceptance or rejection and may present a counter-proposal (§ 22 paras. 2 and 3 KV LU). The people then make the final decision.

The 5'000 signatures can be collected in Lucerne, Emmen, Kriens, Horw, Sursee and Willisau. These are the most populous municipalities and regional centres of the canton of Lucerne. With a professional collection system, this is achievable.

9. Strategic Embedding

The Lucerne initiative is part of a national strategy: popular initiatives for professional wildlife protection are being launched in a coordinated manner in several cantons. Coordinated measures at the national level create synergies in argumentation, media work and political positioning. The canton of Lucerne is well suited as a pilot canton for Central Switzerland.

10. Next Steps

This document is a template text by the IG Wild beim Wild. It may be freely used by activists, organisations or initiative committees and adapted to the circumstances in the canton of Lucerne.

The next step is the formation of an initiative committee in the canton of Lucerne, consisting of people from various municipalities of the canton, with eligible voters from the canton of Lucerne. The committee ensures the sponsorship of the initiative and gives it political legitimacy.

The legal basis, political argumentation, communicative framework and budget have been laid out in this document. The initiative committee can begin implementation directly.

Cantonal Popular Initiatives: Other Cantons

This document is a template text by the IG Wild beim Wild. It may be freely used by activists, organisations or initiative committees and adapted to the circumstances in the canton of Lucerne.

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