After the consultation phases, the LPO (Bird Protection League) moved on to communication. With just over 25,000 signatures collected, their petition, entitled “For new hunting regulations within the Calanques National Park”, has found a certain echo. It intervenes strategically a fortnight before the next board of directors of the Parc des Calanques, scheduled for July 4.
“At the beginning of January, the Parc des Calanques initiated a series of mediation cycles between the different users: Naturalists, hunters, hikers, neighborhood committees, sports associations… And we were surprised to see that, during the meeting with the hunters, paradoxically, it is not naturalists who have been the most upset, but rather hikers who want hunting banned on Sundays, ”says Anaël Marchas, legal mediator of the LPO.
Pussyfoot
A ban to which Didier Réault, the president of the board of directors of the Park, “is not personally favorable”: “It has already evolved. Before, they hunted on Wednesdays, and now it’s Fridays and Sunday mornings, ”says the elected LR. However, this board of directors should be an opportunity “to review the hunting regulations in the Calanques a little more flatly than what we do every year. It’s normal after ten years (the Calanques National Park was created in 2012), ”continues Didier Réault. This overhaul could concern in particular the species that can be hunted, as well as the quantities harvested.
Two elements on which LPO alerted and although less symbolic than the ban on hunting on Sundays and public holidays, the association considers essential: “Our most important demand is the end of the hunting of migratory species, such as thrushes and blackbirds. Because they do not reproduce in the Calanques and no matter how much management we have, the population does not depend on us,” explains Anaël Marchas. In the absence of a ban, the minimum would be for the nature protection association to see the authorized daily “catch” limit lowered, currently set at 15 birds per day and per hunter.
The most visited national park in France
“We will have to find a balance between all the parties”, knows Didier Réault who will find himself sparing the goat and the cabbage. “We need hunters, who have a very old practice of hunting in the Calanques, who help us maintain it and are the first to respond to regulate the wild boar population. We also need the LPO for the subjects on migratory birds, and their population. I think that a compromise will be found on July 4, ”summarizes the politician.
Eleven after its creation, the Calanques National Park which, with three million visitors a year, is the most frequented protected area in France must succeed in finding a balance between all its users. Contacted, the interlocutor of the Paca hunting federation which deals with the Calanques area was not available for the past two days.