New respite for the turtle dove.
The hunt for this migratory bird, whose population has collapsed in Europe, will not be able to resume this year, the government announced on Thursday evening.
After a first ban in 2020 by the Council of State, followed by another in 2021, a decree has just been published this Thursday.
"Until July 30, 2023, the hunting of the turtle dove (Streptopelia turtur) is suspended throughout the metropolitan territory", indicates the decree of the Ministry of Ecological Transition published in the Official Journal.
This is therefore the third consecutive hunting campaign for which the taking of this species is prohibited.
For the 2020 hunting campaign, the government authorized the shooting of 17,460 turtle doves.
But the Council of State, seized by several associations including the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO), had suspended the government decree in September 2020.
The following summer, the government then issued a first decree suspending this hunt, which has now been extended.
A population down by 80%
“We are obviously satisfied that the guns are lifted,” reacted to AFP Yves Verdilhac, director general of the LPO, “but this ban should at least be extended for 5 years and even remove the turtle dove from the list. huntable species.
The turtle dove, a migratory bird whose population has fallen by 80% in Europe over the past 40 years, is the subject of adaptive species management measures in France.
The number of animals that can be killed is fixed after scientific expertise on the conservation status of each species.
A scientific committee recommended in 2019 to no longer hunt the turtle dove, or, at worst, to kill 1.3% of the estimated numbers in France, or 18,300 birds at the time.
The Council of State can decide to suspend the hunting of certain species in decline.
The highest administrative court, which multiplies this type of decision, justifies them in the name of the State's obligations with regard to the protection of biodiversity and the preservation of wild species.
