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The Tallinn Administrative Court satisfied the ornithological association’s request and suspended the environmental board’s permit for hunting geese until the end of April, as a preliminary legal protection.
The Estonian Ornithological Society challenged the decision to allow hunting, because endangered species may die during the hunt, and no important measures have been taken to reduce the peaceful loss of geese.
On March 15, the Environment Agency gave permission to hunt up to 800 white-cheeked geese, 750 great-fronted geese and an unlimited number of Canadian geese in the fields of six counties. The number of these species has increased, and geese and lapwings feeding on crops during a migration stop can damage farmers’ crops.
The Ornithological Society challenged the decision allowing hunting and also requested preliminary legal protection, which the court satisfied. The association believes that ways other than lethal deterrence must be found to mitigate goose losses, and that hunting endangers endangered and protected species.
Research has overwhelmingly shown that shooting geese is no more effective than deterring them with non-lethal means. “Scare alone is of no use. In order to mitigate goose damage, it is necessary to plan measures to discourage and guide geese at the landscape level,” said Kaarel Võhandu, head of the ornithological association.
“Large fields must be articulated with strips of trees, as geese stay away from forest edges for fear of predators. Along with consistent, coordinated and monitored deterrence, calm areas with suitable conditions must be created for geese, and ways to pay subsidies to farmers for the creation of such areas must be found,” said Võhandu.
Geese migrate in mixed flocks, where, in addition to great-footed geese, there may also be endangered little-footed geese and taiga swamp geese. Distinguishing similar geese without special optics and good identification skills is difficult, and catching protected species is not excluded. Field birds that have already started nesting can also be endangered during hunting.
According to the Nature Conservation Act, deterrence hunting may only be carried out if there are no alternative measures. According to the Estonian Ornithology Association, allowing deterrence hunting is against the law, because so far in Estonia, scaring has been mostly used to reduce goose damage, but not other less damaging measures for birds.
The Ornithological Society contested the spring goose hunt in the spring of 2021, when it was also suspended in the administrative court.
2024-04-02 13:19:55
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