Hobby hunters as environmental educators: Italy's animal welfare associations sound the alarm

At three primary schools in Macerata, the “Anna Frank”, “Fratelli Cervi” and “Salvo d’Acquisto” schools, representatives of Federcaccia, the province's hobby hunting association, installed artificial nest boxes for wild birds together with schoolchildren in June 2026.

What Federcaccia staged as environmental education provoked firm opposition from five major animal welfare and environmental organisations.

Who is protesting

The Lipu sections of Macerata and Civitanova, LAV Macerata, WWF Ancona-Macerata, as well as ENPA Macerata and OIPA Italia have published a joint statement. Their objection is not directed against the nest box campaign as such, but against the role in which Federcaccia presented itself: as supposed environmental educators.

The associations are publicly asking how people who “frequently pick up a weapon to go out into nature” are supposed to credibly teach children respect for animals and the environment. This question has no polite answer.

Environmental education requires specialist expertise

The five organisations emphasise that environmental education is a central instrument for shaping enlightened, nature-respecting citizens. Precisely for this reason, it must “primarily” be left to actors with proven naturalistic, scientific and pedagogical competence: people who know biodiversity and ecological interrelationships from research and conservation work, not from kill statistics.

In this context, the associations also point to specific technical requirements in the construction and installation of nest boxes. Dimensions, entrance hole, orientation and placement must follow clear ornithological criteria in order to minimise disturbance and prevent predation. An entrance hole that is too large makes the nest accessible to nest predators; incorrect positioning makes it easier for predator species such as cats or foxes access to nestlings. Those who want to protect nature need expertise, not a firearms licence.

The associations therefore call on schools and public bodies to seek cooperation with organisations that are genuinely dedicated to nature conservation, research and environmental education. Only in this way can children gain an approach to the wildlife world that is grounded in respect and knowledge of ecological balances, and not in hobby hunting narratives.

Local case, national dimension

The associations explicitly embed the incident in Macerata within the ongoing national debate over the hunting bill DDL 1552, which civil society calls «Sparatutto» («Shoot everything»). The bill envisages far-reaching changes to the current hunting legislation (Legge 157/1992), which until now has also governed the protection of wild animals, and is criticised by environmental and animal welfare organisations as a massive attack on wildlife protection.

It is precisely at this moment, the associations say, that it is «of particular importance» to build among the youngest generations a culture of nature conservation based on scientific findings and the protection of our shared natural heritage.

A pattern that Switzerland knows too

The pattern is not confined to Italy. For years, IG Wild beim Wild has been fighting against the infiltration of schools by the hobby hunting lobby: with the campaign «No to teaching by hobby hunters in schools» (since 2023) and the petition against the involvement of minors in hobby hunting, which draws on the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. In Switzerland and Germany too, hobby hunting associations seek social legitimacy by presenting themselves as nature conservationists: in educational institutions, in conservation projects, in public relations. The aim is an image that has little to do with the reality of the recreational killing of wild animals.

Wildlife protection and hobby hunting are not complementary activities. They contradict one another. Anyone who wants to explain to children how birds live, nest and which ecological conditions are required for this should have no interest in subsequently shooting those birds. Environmental education that deserves the name is not an image field for the psychology of hobby hunting.

The animal welfare associations in Macerata have stated this clearly. It is to be hoped that school authorities in Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere will listen.