Militia hunts are banned in the canton of Geneva

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Relief map of the Canton of Geneva
Hunting systems in Switzerland (canton of Geneva, bottom left), green = patent hunt, yellow = territory hunt, red = state hunt

The prohibition of militia hunting in the canton of Geneva has existed since 1974 and prohibits hunting by private hunters ( militia system ). Hunting measures within the framework of state or direct hunt practiced since then, such as the shooting of wild boars and deer to prevent damage to agriculture and forestry , are carried out by hunters employed by the cantons of the Geneva Game and Fisheries Authority.

history

In Switzerland , unlike in Germany, Austria and other European countries, property does not grant subjective hunting rights . As a so-called hunting shelf , subjective hunting rights are in the hands of the individual Swiss cantons , who make it accessible to citizens in the form of patent or hunting grounds. The highly urbanized city-republic of Geneva had a few hundred active hunters in the period before 1974 and practiced a patent hunting system .

In the early 1970s, a small group of activists launched a popular initiative to ban militia hunting. On June 6, 1972, the popular initiative No. 3877, with which the cantonal constitution was to be supplemented by a corresponding ban, was officially submitted with 24,185 signatures (legal minimum: 10,000 signatures). In the following referendum on May 19, 1974, with a turnout of 22% and 10,748 votes against, a majority of 25,776 votes in favor of a ban on militia hunts. As a consequence, Art. 178 A was included in the constitution:

«Hunting mammals and birds in all their forms is prohibited in the entire territory of the canton of Geneva.

On the opinion of a commission formed from representatives of animal and nature conservation associations, the State Council can lift the ban in order to ensure selection and better health of the animal world or to eradicate harmful species. "

- Art. 178 A, Constitution of the Republic and the Canton of Geneva of May 24, 1847 (as of March 2, 2011)

In 2009, a motion to partially reintroduce militia hunting in the canton parliament was rejected with 70: 7 votes. However, in 2012, when a new constitution was introduced for the canton of Geneva, the prohibition paragraph was relaxed. The Geneva government is now free to decide independently and without the prior consent of a commission made up of representatives from animal and nature conservation on deviations or the temporary lifting of the ban. Since then it has been stated in Article 162 of the Constitution:

«Hunting mammals and birds is prohibited. Official measures to regulate the number of animals are reserved. "

- Art. 162 Hunting, Constitution of the Republic and the Canton of Geneva of October 14, 2012 (as of September 17, 2018)

The commercial fishing and the private recreational fishing are not affected by the ban.

Measures and effects

In the last few decades, following the trend in the entire Western and Central European region, several large wild animal species have returned to the canton of Geneva.

In addition to passive measures to prevent game damage, such as electric fences against wild boars and devices that emit alarm sounds when deer approach, professional hunters from the Geneva Wildlife and Fisheries Authority also shoot them . In the official federal hunting statistics , the official kills in the canton of Geneva are listed as "special kills". The annual report of the Geneva Wildlife and Fisheries Authority for the years 2014 to 2017 lists various species that are considered to be a problem because of the game damage they have attempted and that are currently (especially wild boar, roe deer, corvidae ) or in the foreseeable future ( red deer ) disgusted by shooting or are reduced in their inventory.

The sharp increase in the number of wild boars being shot since the end of the 1990s - in the reporting period from 2014 to 2017, the Geneva Game Guard therefore killed an annual average of 187 wild boars - is seen as the reason why the agricultural damage was brought to a tolerable level. According to the shooting guidelines, neither large boars nor leading brooks are shot. In order to achieve the long-term goal of 3 to 4 animals per square kilometer in wild boars, around 50% of the population is killed every year. The accumulated in the firings game is sold in Geneva and enjoys great popularity among the population.

Significant forest damage from hoofed game - the roe deer reaches densities of 10–15 units per km² of forest - forced the creation of a forest-game concept in accordance with the Federal Office for the Environment's (FOEN) “forest and game enforcement aid” . As countermeasures, the construction of wild fences was reinforced and targeted shooting of roe deer began. In addition to the forest, damage in vineyards and orchards is particularly problematic with regard to deer .

For deterrence of crows and pigeons in the range of particularly harmful prone specialty crops one was Falkner committed.

criticism

Eric Schweizer, President of the Geneva hunters' association La St Hubert, criticized the state hunt in the canton in 2014. The population of the partridge has fallen sharply and the rabbit has even been exterminated. Schweizer explained that “ state-paid gamekeepers, but also“ licensed private individuals ”[had] more than 31,000 different birds from 1974 to the present day - wild pigeons, ducks, starlings, corvids and even herons - as well as thousands of mammals - rabbits, hares, wild boars, mangy foxes and in recent years also deer - shot down ».

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 13.5095 | Incomplete federal hunting statistics. In: Swiss Parliament. March 18, 2013, archived from the original on October 19, 2018 ; Retrieved September 19, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Direction générale de l'agriculture et de la nature (DGAN): Gestion des espèces pouvant être chassées selon la Loi fédérale sur la chasse et la protection des mammifères et oiseaux sauvages - Organization, coût et bilan; Genève 2014-2017 . Ed .: Département du territoire. Genève August 23, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gottlieb Dandliker: Example of the canton of Geneva: The hunting ban experiment . In: Wald-Wild-Further Education August 14-15, 2014. Swiss Forest Association, 2014, archived from the original on November 25, 2018 ; accessed on November 25, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Friedrich Reimoser: The hunt as an economic factor . In: John Dietlein, Judith Froese (ed.): Hunting Royal property (=  library of the property . No. 17 ). tape 17 . Springer-Verlag, 2018, ISBN 978-3-662-54771-7 , ISSN  1613-8686 , p. 74 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ a b c Pourquoi la chasse est-elle interdite dans le canton de Genève? - Archives Interroge - Question / réponse. In: Bibliothèques Municipales | Ville de Genève. October 1, 2018, archived from the original on August 18, 2019 ; accessed on August 18, 2019 (French).
  6. ↑ Gazette de Lausanne - June 12, 1972 - Pages 10/11. In: letempsarchives.ch. June 12, 1972, accessed August 18, 2019 (French).
  7. ↑ Hunt for hunters - DER SPIEGEL 41/1972. In: SPIEGEL ONLINE. October 2, 1972, archived from the original on December 7, 2018 ; accessed on December 7, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Information statistics Genève. May 1974 - Results de la votation cantonale du 19 May 1974. In: République et canton de Genève. May 1, 1974, archived from the original on December 7, 2018 ; accessed on November 27, 2018 (French).
  9. ↑ Gottlieb Dandliker: The Geneva hunting ban experiment . In: Karlheinz Wirnsberger (ed.): Hunting in the 21st century: What is reality, what is ethically justifiable? Hunting Museum Schloss Stainz, 2015, ISBN 978-3-902095-74-9 , p. 53-57 .
  10. ↑ May 25, 1847 - June 1, 2013 - Constitution of the Republic and the Canton of Geneva, from May 24, 1847. In: The Federal Council - The portal of the Swiss government. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018 ; accessed on December 8, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Population gives the green light for the cantonal constitution: sigh of relief in Geneva . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . October 13, 2012, ISSN  0376-6829 ( nzz.ch [accessed September 19, 2016]).
  12. ↑ Christophe Büchi: Animal rights activists blow the hunt for the new Geneva Constitution. In: NZZ. October 4, 2012, archived from the original on December 7, 2018 ; accessed on December 7, 2018 .
  13. ↑ SR 131.234 Constitution of the Republic and the Canton of Geneva, of October 14, 2012 (KV-GE). In: The Federal Council - The portal of the Swiss government. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018 ; accessed on December 8, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Fisheries statistics . In: fischereistatistik.ch. Retrieved August 18, 2019 .
  15. ↑ FOEN Federal Office for the Environment: Hunting Statistics. Retrieved November 25, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Enforcement aid forest and game. In: Federal Office for the Environment FOEN. July 19, 2010, archived from the original on December 7, 2018 ; accessed on December 7, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Alfons Deter: "Hunting ban in Geneva is hypocrisy instead of a role model". In: top agrar online. February 26, 2014, archived from the original on December 7, 2018 ; accessed on December 7, 2018 .