Valais: Massive Criticism of the Wildlife Management Office
The head of the department does not escape criticism either.
Specific criticism of the management of the department was raised during interviews with the Parliamentary Control Committee (GPK).
The management of the department “is consistently rated as weak, insufficiently consistent, and not uniform across the two linguistic regions.” The GPK demands that uniform management of the DJFW as well as uniform procedures regardless of linguistic region be ensured, that external leadership and management training be defined for department head Peter Scheibler, that clear performance targets be set, and that appropriate consequences be drawn when these are not met.
The game wardens carry out their work independently and alone within their respective sectors. Although the external expert confirms that DJFW employees generally do good work, problems exist with individual staff members. In the GPK’s view, a game warden must not be struggling with alcohol problems, as two cases have demonstrated. In one case, the game warden was required to undergo a rehabilitation programme and is regularly supervised by the department head, according to 1815.ch.
The administration of the department is still largely handled on paper. The processing of approximately 2,800 hunting licences issued annually has not been digitised. Around 6,000 forms concerning wildlife reported to the hunting police are also recorded manually.
The equipment of game wardens is inadequate. When needed, wardens must travel to the department’s offices in Sion to collect the specific equipment required. Such an organisational approach is impractical and inefficient. For culling operations commissioned by clients, the amount owed is paid to the game warden on-site and in cash. The warden therefore occasionally moves through their sector carrying several thousand francs. The GPK is of the opinion that cash payments of several thousand francs made to a game warden on-site are no longer appropriate given the risk of theft and loss.
Criticism also arose in connection with the Wolf corrections are needed. The individual activities of the DJFW, the DLW (Department of Agriculture) and the VRDVBU (Administrative and Legal Service of the DVBU) must be clearly defined, and the process for issuing a shooting permit must be established. It must also be clarified which department is in charge. In the assessment of the GPK, the implementation of the herd protection measures by 2017 is not realistic. The government takes note of the GPK's remarks regarding the organisation and management of the department as well as the wolf issue. As the GPK notes, the organisational problems had already been flagged by the Financial Inspectorate. Improvement measures are underway. Regarding herd protection measures, a new policy has been defined and presented at the end of April, the State Council announced.
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