Swiss Biodiversity: Also a Hunting Problem
Biodiversity in Switzerland is in an inadequate state, as scientifically documented. This is shown by the current comprehensive review of the Biodiversity Forum of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) together with over 50 specialists.
Despite occasional positive developments, the decline in the diversity of living species has not been reversed, and more than one third of all species remain endangered.
In the chaos that nature finds itself in after decades of management and care by the recreational hunting community, this is not surprising. Politically, hobby hunters always vote against national parks, nature or the protection of endangered species. Switzerland is also a laggard in Europe when it comes to designating protected areas for biodiversity. It is precisely these circles of hobby hunters with their lobbying who have been responsible through politics, media and laws for decades. They are the ones who prevent contemporary, ethical Animal welfare improvements notoriously block and sabotage serious animal and species protection.
After over a hundred years of so-called sustainable hunting management and care, numerous species are still extinct or endangered. These include elk and bison as well as numerous bird species. At the same time, wolves have re-established themselves and are now intensively regulated politically. Other species are already back on the waiting list of recreational hunters.
This scientific finding provides a hard foundation that politics, media and society must finally take seriously.
The SCNAT comprehensive review confirms that human pressure on biodiversity in Switzerland continues to be high. Intensive land use, environmental pollution, invasive alien species and climate change also have ongoing negative effects on habitats, species numbers and ecological connectivity. Between 2014 and 2020, landscape fragmentation increased by about 7 percent, and light pollution has almost doubled since 1994. While airborne nitrogen inputs have been reduced since 1990, inputs into many habitats remain too high.
According to the report, the only positive aspect is that the decline in biodiversity has partially slowed. In forest areas, the condition has improved from 'poor' to 'medium', and some heat-loving or mobile species are showing upward trends again. In alpine zones above the tree line, the condition even remains 'good'. At the same time, the condition in water bodies, urban areas and agricultural areas in valley and lower mountain zones continues to be rated as 'poor'.
This differentiated scientific assessment is all too often watered down in public debate in favor of simple narratives. In hunting policy circles, recreational hunting is often presented as a necessary instrument to secure biodiversity and establish balance in landscape ecosystems. Realistically speaking, however, hunting tasks such as culling quotas and territory rationalization take a back seat to the dominant causes of biodiversity loss. The SCNAT analysis makes it clear that land use, habitat destruction, fragmentation and nutrient inputs are central drivers that go far beyond hunting influence factors and require structural policy measures.
Particularly in agricultural and urban areas, monitoring data and field observations show how severely habitats are fragmented and ecologically depleted. Species such as brown hares, butterflies or amphibians are exposed to significant pressures here, which are intensified by intensive management, monocultures and pesticide use. The SCNAT analysis emphasizes that support measures by the federal government, cantons, municipalities and civil society actors do show effects, but these usually remain local or regional and are not sufficient to achieve a nationwide turnaround.
A particular problem is the discrepancy between perception and scientific reality. The SCNAT comprehensive review points out that many people assess the state of biodiversity in Switzerland as significantly better than it actually is. This misjudgment is less related to the local environment than to political attitudes and media narratives that like to sit out or trivialize national ecological crises.
While the hunting community often calls for more culling, 'regulation' or symbolic 'game management', scientific evidence shows that the major levers for biodiversity protection lie at other levels. River restoration, habitat connectivity, reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus inputs, reduction of soil sealing and biodiversity-friendly agricultural policies are measures that the SCNAT analysis identifies as necessary to slow ongoing loss and initiate a long-term reversal of trends.
The task now is to place these scientifically grounded findings at the center of the debate and not allow hunting pseudo-solutions to replace genuine ecological policy. Only in this way can the culturally distorted image of an intact, biodiverse Switzerland be replaced by fact-based public perception that allows the real causes of species extinction to be effectively addressed.
