After a decision of the Council of State deeming several traditional hunting techniques for birds illegal, the government on Wednesday, September 15 issued several orders for consultation to allow some of these hunts, arguing that they respect European law.
Read alsoThe Council of State considers traditional bird hunts "illegal"
At the beginning of August, the Council of State canceled several hunting authorizations for crested lapwings, golden plovers, field larks, thrushes and blackbirds with nets (pantes, matoles) or cages (matoles), judging "
that these authorizations issued by the Minister responsible for the environment do not comply with the requirements of European law relating to the protection of birds
”.
The European “
birds
”
directive
of 2009 prohibits mass capture techniques for birds without distinction of species.
A derogation is possible "
on condition of being duly motivated and since 'there is no other satisfactory solution' to capture certain birds
", recalled the Council of State.
Compliance with the European legal framework
After this decision, and three days of hunting demonstrations planned in several departments, the Ministry of Ecological Transition put eight orders for the 2021-2022 hunting season for consultation until October 6.
They concern the capture of lapwing and golden plovers in the tenderie in the Ardennes, the capture of skylarks with pantes in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, the Lot-et-Garonne, the Landes and the Gironde, the capture of larks from the fields to the matole in the Landes and Lot-et-Garonne and the capture of the laçets of thrushes and blackbirds in the Ardennes.
Read alsoHunters, faced with criticism, make concessions
It is a question of "
coming out on top of the debate on traditional hunts by allowing the judge to rule definitively on their conformity with the European legal framework on the preservation of birds
", argues the ministry to AFP. The previous decrees "
did not allow the Council of State to consider that the Ministry had provided the necessary reasons for the absence of an alternative solution, selectivity, judicious use and the small quantities
" of birds killed by these hunts, which can allow exemptions, as many elements specified in the new texts, according to the same source. The total number of birds that can be hunted is around 115,000.