What is wrong with the draft amendments to the Hunting Act

However, the way goes through:
- Suspension of annual requests for lengthening the hunting seasons in breach of European and Bulgarian nature protection law and the principles of sustainable hunting.
- Licenses for usage of game should be given away only at proven game reserves. Proving of game reserves should be done based on scientific methods and in the presence of an effective system for control of the authenticity of the data.
- Demonstration of clear will and real actions for solving the problems with poaching, which has become a distinct trend in the last years, exposing lack of will and capacity of responsible state institutions and hunting associations for dealing with the problem.
- Reduction (of season’s length, number of hunting days and number of dogs) of group hunting with dogs and encouragement/transition to individual selective shooting of wild hog. The group hunting with dogs at its present intensity affects severely the game and a great number of protected species, and has nothing to do with the principles of sustainable managing of game. As a result, the reserve of hunted species is considerably lower than the potential of its habitats, and this is mostly hunters’ loss.
- Adequate hunting fees levels, covering the expenses of the State for its management and control (improving the protection, through additional financing) and bringing also income to the budget from hunt service.
- Transparency of expenditures for protection and game care, collected from hunting fees. Such a practice is missing from Bulgarian hunting associations, and this concerns public funds too.
- Combining of the principle of the State as an owner of the game with keeping the right of the owners to ban, allow or regulate hunting in their forests and on their land. The present mode of free hunting on private lands and in private forests violates the rights of their owners and disregards the principles, on which the European Union is based.
- Freedom of association and absence of hunting monopolies. The calls for a single hunting association with a mandatory membership in it do not make sense.
- Finding a definite compromise between interests of hunting estates and free movement of people, as well as non-admission of fencing of mountains and de facto turning the state forest fund into private hunting estates, inaccessible to the regular taxpayer. There is no such issue in Europe!

Unfortunately, we do not discern will on behalf of NSLR-SLRB (national association of hunters and fishers) to adequately address most of the problems listed above. For that reason, the meaning of today’s protest and its expectations are not quite clear. Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria Coalition holds that there is no European future for the hunting movement based on one hastily adopted under someone’s pressure Hunting Strategy or Hunting Act. New thinking is needed for these by all stakeholders in hunting and readiness for changes and for mutual concessions. It is time for a new public debate, which will answer how we shall move on. Fifteen years after the adoption of the current hunting act, and after 27 amendments to it, it is obvious that no one is satisfied today with the state of hunting in the country.

Unfortunately, it is evident in the discussions that there isn’t any will for a real change among the main stakeholders, and we are afraid that the demands for a new Hunting Strategy or a new Hunting Act are but a pretext for placing more lobbyist proposals – in this case maybe for again introducing structural monopoly upon the hunting movement.

Let Nature Remain in Bulgaria Coalition supports the efforts of the Executive Forest Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods for a series of minor but significant changes in the Hunting and Game Protection Act. We do not consider them perfect, and we will submit additional suggestions for their improvement. We consider the continuation of privatisation of game and hunting activities to be pointless. But we are firm in our stance that in order Bulgarian hunting to have European future, the suggested consensus proposals by Bulgarian Parliament have to be adopted and we need to continue a serious debate – with more expertise and less lobbyism and populism.