The essential is except for the million French hunters.
They will be able to continue to practice their favorite leisure on Sunday, like the other days of the week.
Among the 14 measures of the hunting plan presented Monday in Loiret by Bérangère Couillard, Secretary of State to the Minister for Ecological Transition, this ban was ultimately not retained.
To move towards "zero accidents", the public authorities are relying more on better cohabitation between hunters and the various users of nature and increased training for hunters in safety rules than on a one-day ban on hunt per week.
However, it was one of the points on which the government was expected by environmental protection associations.
Indeed, according to an Ifop poll carried out in mid-December among 1,000 people, 78% of French people said they were in favor of at least half a day without hunting per week.
An idea mentioned in a senatorial report submitted last September to the government.
It showed that over the period 2003-2022, 71% of accidents had taken place at weekends.
The Secretary of State herself had mentioned at the end of October the possibility of a half-day without hunting per week, in particular on Sunday afternoon, very frequented in the French forests by hikers, joggers and mountain bikers.
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It was without counting on the strong opposition of the departmental federations of hunters who found this solution incongruous and ineffective.
“Improving security and coexistence between hunters and other nature users, we must tackle it seven days a week rather than confining them to half a day.
That meant that the rest of the time, we did nothing, ”
insists Thierry Coste, political adviser to the National Federation of Hunters, close to Emmanuel Macron.
A message well received by the government.
“
The objective in which I deeply believe is that of moving towards “zero accidents” (…) It is reinforced safety seven days a week that we are looking for,
points out Bérangère Couillard.
Over the past twenty years, nothing tells me that Sundays are more accident-prone than the other days of the week.
»
According to OFB statistics, the number of hunting accidents has been falling over the past two decades.
However, for the 2021-2022 season, the public body noted 90 bodily accidents following the use of a hunting weapon, compared to 80 the previous season.
Among them, eight mortals, including two with non-hunting victims.
Just last weekend, an 84-year-old hunter who was storing his weapon in his car accidentally killed himself in Haute-Corse.
To create an offense equivalent to that of driving, a bill will be tabled very quickly
Bérangère Couillard, Secretary of State.
Among the measures announced on Monday in an OFB hunting license training center in the Loiret: the creation of an alcohol offense.
Like what exists for motorists, hunters will not have the right to take the gun beyond a maximum threshold set at 0.5 g of alcohol per liter of blood.
“A fine of 135 euros must be established immediately
, explains the Secretary of State.
To create an offense equivalent to that of driving, a bill will be tabled very quickly.”
With regard to information for other nature users, a smartphone application will be deployed in the fall in order to identify the territories and times not hunted.
The organizers of collective hunting must declare themselves online.
Finally, on the training side, the task is vast.
The government wants to speed up the mandatory ten-year theoretical training for license holders and add a practical component related to the handling of weapons for all hunters.
“One out of two hunters will have to be trained by 2025 and all hunters will have to be trained by 2029”,
according to the government.
In addition, the organizers of beats, which concern more than 200,000 people, will have to receive specific training by the departmental federations because too many accidents take place during these regroupings, walkers or inhabitants being confused with wild boars.
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Reactions to these announcements are mixed.
“For the world of hunting, this plan is balanced
, believes Thierry Coste.
Vast sites are open to us.
The mobile application will require a huge amount of cross-referencing of IGN, Alliance des sports et loisirs de nature, ONF and FNC files.
This will help reduce the feeling of insecurity of local residents when there is hunting
.”
For their part, nature protection associations are expressing their dissatisfaction.
“
The security plan which claims to put an end to conflicts between hunters and non-hunters is giving birth to measures.
They reinforce already existing constraints,
ironically Allain Bougrain-Dubourg, president of the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO).
The abandonment of Sunday without hunting constitutes an unacceptable contempt for the 80% of French people who are waiting for a ceasefire
.
Others are already denouncing the technical constraints of the mobile application in the white zone.
“To limit hunting accidents, walkers (…) will have to ensure that hunters do not threaten them via a smartphone app when there is no network in the forest,
points out Bruno Jacquelin, communication manager of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation.
The government has set itself the goal of achieving zero hunting accidents.
The measures announced would be laughable if the subject were not so serious and deadly.