I n the press release on the planned Change in the Federal Hunting Act It’s just an aside: They not only want to include wolves in the law, but also set up a round table – with hunters, forest owners and environmentalists. The federal government’s goal is to present “results on the forest-wildlife conflict” by the end of 2026. Very nice idea, but there has been enough talk in the past decades. Therefore, here is a suggestion for a result: New hunting laws are needed that no longer degrade the forest into a backdrop for hunters’ wishes.
Because the problem in the German forest is not the wolf. Yes, it’s true, problem wolves that prey on sheep and other animals should be shot as quickly as possible. More speed and simpler procedures would be helpful. But the bigger problem is the hunters – not because of the animals they want to shoot (wolves), but because of those they don’t want to shoot.
They want to get rid of wolves because they bring unrest into the territory, eat roe deer and red deer – even those with magnificent antlers – and make leisurely hunting from a perch more difficult. Please no competition, that is the real motive.
Otherwise, hunters are very selective about what they want to hunt, such as deer and red deer: Yes, gladly – but not too many. Although more than 1.3 million deer are shot every year, the ones that are still there are enough to meet the urgently needed number Waldumbau slow down dramatically. Deer eat young deciduous trees, and so the species-poor, vulnerable spruce and pine plantations remain. Dense deciduous forests could long since grow if the game population were to decline. The conservationist called for it as early as 1971 Horst Stern exactly that. Every Weisergatter – fenced forest areas where deer can’t get in – shows this. But all reforms of hunting laws that place the forest above game protection fail due to the resistance of traditional hunters or are watered down beyond recognition.
But there is hope: more and more young hunters understand the problem. They hunt in harmony with forest and land owners in such a way that natural regeneration succeeds without fences. No, it’s not about exterminating deer, as some hunters reflexively claim. It’s about a future-oriented balance between forest and wildlife. With wolf.
And this is also developing: Where hunting tenants are not prepared to hunt enough, forest owners in some hunting cooperatives are rethinking. Instead of leasing the forests for hunting for at least nine years (another rule in the hunting law that can be eliminated), they organize it themselves. This is a lot of work for small forest owners, especially in the beginning, but it is worth it: they are finally growing a climate-resilient forest for a future that offers living space, stabilizes ecosystems and enables profitable wood harvesting. A hunting law should promote and support such models instead of giving conservative hunters the wolf to the gun.