Two times cheaper, the national hunting license has found its audience with three more applications this year. For environmental protection associations, including the Allain Bougrain-Dubourg Bird Protection League, "it's starting to work well".

ON DECRYPT

This is a considerable figure released Thursday: in one year, the number of hunting permits requested in France has increased from 90,000 to 290,000, an increase of more than 220%. Is this an explosion of the attraction for hunting in 2019? Not really, actually.

This very large increase in the number of permits requested does not mean that there will be more hunters in our campaigns, but that there will be more hunting potential: with the national license, it is the whole of France that becomes a hunting ground.

A "gift" from Emmanuel Macron

Until last year, this national permit was abandoned by hunters, who found it too expensive compared to the departmental permit. Emmanuel Macron has increased his price from 400 to 200 euros, which has exploded requests: one out of two fighters chose a national license this year, against one in ten last year. This is beyond the expectations of the French Hunting Federation.

" We must stop shooting on species already in agony, as committed Emmanuel Macron "

On the other hand, the associations of protection of the environment are disappointed by this figure. "I find it very distressing to favor hunting in France, when it is the first country in Europe in terms of hunting time, number of hunted species and hunters in activity," says Allain Bougrain -Dubourg, of the League of Protection of the birds. "On the contrary, we must stop shooting on species already in agony, as committed Emmanuel Macron.A moment ago, it starts to do well."

The drop in the price of the hunting license should create a shortfall of 18 million euros for the state. Instead of making the national permit more accessible, this sum could have been invested in the protection of the environment, underline the associations.