Draft decrees of the Walloon Government
The Walloon government has reached an agreement on two decrees on the control and feeding of wild boars. These were approved at second reading and will be sent to the Council of State for advice before publication.
In addition, the Government will soon draft a decree extending the hunting season for wild boars, non-forested areas and small red deer until February 20, 2024.
The main changes related to the destruction of wild boars are as follows:
Possibility of night shooting on plains, subject to the following provisions:
Only on plains and at a distance of more than 100 meters from the border of neighboring land.
The use of a light source independent of or linked to the firearm, as well as the use of a thermal scope independent of the firearm, is permitted. A thermal scope on the firearm is not allowed.
Catching options
The capture of wild boars may be permitted under certain conditions.
Mandatory organization of additional drive hunts
If by 30 November 50% of the quotas in a Cynégétique council have not been reached, all holders of hunting rights in the territory of the council are obliged to organise rendering hunts in the first quarter of the following year, equivalent to normal driven hunts with floats and dogs.
The main new provisions relating to the supplementary feeding of wild boars are as follows:
The supplementary feeding of wild boars will be prohibited between 1 October and 31 March. There will be a transition period with a feed ban from 21 December 2023 and from 1 November for the next two years (2024 and 2025).
Vous retrouverez la publication du Ministre Willy Borsus ici
We note that the recommendations of the Hunting Department of the National Affairs Department (found here and here ) and of the hunters’ associations (found here) have hardly been followed, which has prompted us to respond to this announcement by informing Minister Borsus of our grievances today:
As an alternative to banning feeding, our proposal to limit the quantities of food distributed was not honoured, although it met the objective of avoiding excesses while maintaining the ability of hunters to limit the damage.
The draft decree does not provide for financial compensation for farmers and local authorities, despite the fact that this was explicitly provided for in the regional policy declaration signed by the three majority parties, in order to finance the damage to game, while depriving hunters of a means of limiting the damage.
We are concerned about the obligation to organize additional strokes imposed on all areas covered by a hunting board, as this amounts to punishing those who have achieved their goals by causing significant efforts and costs, disturbing the forest unnecessarily and closing it to other users for a very uncertain outcome.
In addition, these draft decrees contain technical and legal inaccuracies and other errors that we will explain in detail to the Minister.
We regret that with these draft decrees, the government is ignoring the advice of the democratic bodies and is not fulfilling the commitments it made in its regional policy statement.
Moreover, we believe that, if this draft decree were to be implemented, the Walloon Government would have to be consistent, as would the Flemish Government, by abolishing the 1961 law on compensation and replacing it with the Region’s responsibility for damage caused by wild boars.
We will certainly keep you informed of developments in these matters, but we would like to ask you to do everything possible now to reduce the populations of wild boars where there is a surplus.
The Royal Saint-Hubert Club of Belgium
