In the Hanebolsskogen forest northwest of Åmål, a hunting team has been allowed to drive off the land during each hunting season for several decades, but without any written agreement with the municipality.
In order to be allowed to hunt in an area, a person must be granted hunting rights there. In the case of Hanebolsskogen there is only an oral agreement - but the municipality does not know which people. And the landowner must also sign an agreement that they lease the land for hunting, which the municipality did not do either.
- You must have a hunting rights agreement or hunting lease agreement signed with the municipality. This is often where they have specified their restrictions, says Jesper Einarsson, hunting consultant at the Swedish Hunters' Association.
What happens if you do not have such an agreement?
- You have. I'm pretty sure you have.
They don't have it.
- Don't they have a hunting rights agreement? That's really weird. Then nobody really has the hunt there. Then I would advise the municipality and look at how this works.
"Not unusual in smaller municipalities"The Municipality of Åmål states that there is only one oral agreement.
- Of course, this is not good, but in smaller municipalities it is not uncommon for it to work that way, says Björn Wennerström, acting unit manager for planning and real estate at Åmål municipality.
Do you have any oral agreements elsewhere?
- We don't know. It is part of the review we are undergoing.
The municipality has now started a review of all leases, not just hunting leases, in order to make the municipality's conditions more uniform.
"It is a must to review the agreements"The Swedish Hunters' Association states that it is important to keep track of who has the right to hunt in a certain area.
- While you let someone else take the hunt, you renounce your own hunting right as a landowner. The municipality would definitely review its agreements. It is a must really, says Jesper Einarsson.