Referendum against flawed Hunting Act set in motion
The protection of wild animals is being weakened rather than improved. That, in a nutshell, is the effect of the botched revision of Switzerland's Hunting Act.
After a lengthy and arduous process of negotiation, Parliament has delivered a revision of the Hunting Act that massively dismantles species protection in Switzerland. In future, protected animal species will be able to be shot on a precautionary basis, simply because they exist.
This at a time when biodiversity is under greater threat than ever before in human history. Pro Natura, WWF Switzerland, BirdLife Switzerland and Groupe Loup Suisse will therefore join forces with other organisations to launch a referendum against this flawed Hunting Act.
In May 2019, the World Biodiversity Council published its alarming report on the state of biodiversity. Just a few months later, Parliament is expected to present a revised “Federal Act on Hunting and the Protection of Native Mammals and Birds” (JSG) that protects only one thing: the interests of agriculture and the proceeds of hunting and fishing. The opportunity was also missed to finally place endangered but still huntable species such as the brown hare or the woodcock under protection.
Shooting protected species simply because they exist
In future, it will be far easier to shoot previously protected species such as wolves, beavers, lynx or grey herons if they inconvenience farmers, hobby hunters, fish farmers or politicians. The sound compromise of the current law is: protection at federal level, hunting at cantonal level. Under the new rules, each individual canton — rather than the federal government — would be able to decide for itself how to regulate protected species. Animals can now be shot without ever having caused damage, or, in the event of damage, without reasonable preventive measures having first been taken. While the law only explicitly states that the wolf is to be regulated in a greatly simplified manner, the Federal Council will in future be able to add further species to the shooting list at will, bypassing both the public and Parliament. The term “protected species» thus becomes an empty buzzword.
On Wednesday, the conciliation conference on the hunting law took place, following many hours of debate in both chambers of parliament. The National Council and the Council of States agreed, among other things, that wolves may also be shot in hunting reserves. Two prominent voices from the recent debates in the Federal Palace are guests on «Politikum»: Bastien Girod, National Councillor for the Greens (ZH), and Beat Rieder, CVP Council of States member (VS).
Now the electorate is to decide on the hunting law
The organisations involved are fighting against a Wildlife Act that, in an era of biodiversity loss and species extinction, serves special interest groups one-sidedly while torpedoing the protection of endangered animal species. For this reason, Pro Natura, WWF Switzerland, BirdLife Switzerland, and Groupe Loup Suisse, together with other organisations, will launch a referendum against the flawed hunting law. They are confident of collecting the necessary 50’000 signatures by January, so that the electorate can vote on the future treatment of beavers, wolves, grey herons, lynx, and others. Contributing to this confidence is a representative survey (Wild beim Wild reported) which the organisations commissioned gfs to conduct, and which shows strong public support for species protection concerns. The signature collection is expected to begin on 8 October.
gfs survey
