- Emmanuel Macron decided Thursday to ban for this season glue hunting for thrushes and blackbirds.
- This decision seems to mark a rupture between the president and the hunting world
- But the defenders of birds do not yet believe in a real turning point in the quinquennium.
A change of foot of the executive? Emmanuel Macron decided Thursday to ban for this season glue hunting for thrushes and blackbirds. The head of state announced it after having received the president of the National Federation of Hunters Willy Schraen, the day before, in the presence of Barbara Pompili. “We had to do it for a long time, it's done. It is a compliance with European law and good news for biodiversity, ”greeted the Minister of Ecology on Friday.
The stopping of the glue hunt, we had to do it for a long time, it's done. This is compliance with European law and good news for biodiversity. pic.twitter.com/iRNK6Odji0
- Barbara Pompili (@barbarapompili) August 28, 2020This suspension, a first in France, was decided pending the response of the Court of Justice of the European Union, said the Elysee. It has angered hunters, while defenders of birds do not yet believe in a real turning point in the quinquennium. 20 Minutes takes stock.
What are we talking about ?
Glue hunting is a controversial method of smearing sticks of glue - the glues - into trees in order to capture birds. The latter, thus trapped, are then captured and then caged. Their songs are used as bait to attract other birds, drawn by hunters. According to the latter, there is no impact on biodiversity, since the thrushes and blackbirds captured are released at the end of the season, and the harvest is quite low.
France, which is the only EU country to accept this method of hunting, has regulated this “ancestral” practice. Until now, it was only authorized in five departments in the south-east and could only be used to capture thrushes and blackbirds, respecting a quota (42,000 last season), during the hunting period fixed by the prefect.
On the contrary, associations and environmentalists denounce a non-selective practice (other species can be trapped), impossible to control, and "intolerable". “We release the birds when they are not already dead. They struggle, can break a wing, a leg. It is a cruel practice which should already be banned for years, since France is in violation of European law, ”criticizes EELV MEP David Cormand.
A pending legal battle
The issue is at the heart of a legal battle. On July 2, the European Commission once again asked France to put an end to “illegal hunting and to re-examine its methods of capturing birds”, pointing out in particular the hunting of glue, prohibited according to it by the Birds Directive of 2009, which preserves wild species on the continent.
😡The Council of State denies the cruel and non-selective nature of #gluehunting which remains authorized in 5 French departments. The LPO continues its action and
files a complaint with the European Commission ➡️https: //t.co/EDbRstrLXO pic.twitter.com/TzFyXjW1NG
The Commission was giving France three months to put an end to this non-selective hunting method, threatening to take the matter to the EU Court of Justice. This same European Court had already been seized at the end of 2019 by the Council of State, which asked it precisely whether the famous “Birds” directive allowed or not the hunting of glue. It is while awaiting this response that the French government decided on this one-year suspension.
A change of foot from Emmanuel Macron vis-à-vis the hunters?
“Hunters cannot understand that this practice is being sacrificed in the name of a green political display without any real foundation for those who really care about biodiversity within the territories, as we do on a daily basis! ", The boss of the National Federation of Hunters, Willy Schraen, said in a statement. The FNC claims selective hunting, and says it is "flabbergasted by the attitude of the government, which is obviously losing its temper in the face of a smear campaign".
A 1-year break for the practice of glue hunting is a necessary but insufficient first step towards compliance with European regulations.Only 20 species of birds out of 64 hunted are in good state of conservation @ParcCalanques @ OFBiodiversite @EmmanuelMacron
- FNE Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (@FNEPACA) August 27, 2020Emmanuel Macron's decision seems to mark a break with the world of hunting. Since the start of the five-year term, the president had so far taken care to stroke hunters in the direction of the hair, at the risk of seeing the popular Nicolas Hulot leave the government. "This suspension is good news, but it took European law, the mobilization of associations, a petition ... And at the same time, the government announced the maintenance of quotas for other traditional hunts such as that of turtledoves, who are threatened with extinctions, ”breathes David Cormand. "Today, the supporters of extreme hunting have an open table at the Elysee, their lobby is very well organized."
The former boss of EELV and the associations now hope that other hunting methods, such as nets and traps for larks and pigeons, will also be banned from the Commission. On Facebook, the national association for the defense of traditional thrush hunts announces the convening of a general assembly on Saturday to discuss "the possible remedies as well as the actions to be taken so as not to completely lose our rights". While the great environmental shift of the five-year term must begin, the battle has only just begun.
Justice
A rally organized against the slaughter of foxes in Seine-Maritime
Politics
Emmanuel Macron bans glue hunting for thrushes and blackbirds this year
- Emmanuel Macron
- President
- Hunt
- Hunters