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In a joint statement, the Associação Natureza Portugal, as well as WWF, the League for the Protection of Nature, Quercus and the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds, ask the Minister of the Environment to “quickly realize not only of his decision to review the Hunting Law, but also to solve all the parallel problems, such as the almost nonexistence of inspection ”.
For the organizations, “only good laws are not enough to end attacks on the natural heritage” of all, arguing that “the will and capacity of the relevant public bodies for their application is necessary.”
In the text, they add that “the recent news about the massive slaughter of deer, fallow deer and wild boar in the Herdade da Torre Bela, in Azambuja, shocked the country and sparked a debate before society that has long been desired by associations of environmental Protection”.
The organizations emphasize that they are now “all aware of the inadequacies of the Hunting Law and the monitoring of this activity,” arguing that “there is an urgent need to correct the situation to stop new crimes against nature.”
“Although [de o] The Ministry of the Environment has also criticized the massacre of 540 animals by only 16 hunters, and has called for their accountability and sanction, now it is as important to do so as to draw the appropriate lessons and settle them in an improved Hunting Law ”, they maintain.
For associations, the Hunting Law and its regulations contain “serious deficiencies”.
“Although the Torre Bela episode may be a violation of the general principles of the Hunting Law -and other environmental legislation-, unfortunately the law does not even explain how many animals each hunter can kill on a mountain,” they emphasize.
The organizations point to “other serious problems” in the legislation, such as the permission to hunt threatened species, such as turtles, and the use of lead ammunition, a metal highly toxic to humans and other animals.
“These and other problems must be corrected by law and the penalties provided must be severe enough to act as a deterrent,” they defend.
For the associations, what happened in Azambuja also illustrates “a serious problem that has been known for a long time”: “the impossibility of enforcing the law due to lack of human and material resources for monitoring and inspection.”
Both the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests and the Service for the Protection of Nature and the Environment (SEPNA-GNR) “have ridiculously scarce resources for the task at hand”, so it is “urgent to train to these institutions. “
“If the Torre Bela mountain had been accompanied, as it should have happened regardless of whether it is mandatory or not by law, the incident would not have occurred,” they point out.
With “effective surveillance” there would, for example, be far fewer cases of intentional poisoning and killing of protected species.
“Regardless of the ethical debate on hunting, it is a fact that this activity can have a positive impact on the conservation of ecosystems and species. A good example of this is the conservation of the Iberian lynx in Portugal. But for the good examples to prevail, and not the bad ones, it is essential to solve the problems listed ”, they reiterate.
On Thursday, the Herdade da Torre Bela, where 540 animals were sacrificed, dismissed any responsibility for what happened, repudiating the “illegitimate” way in which a mountain occurred on their property, and considers that the recourse to justice should be compensated by damages caused.
On Tuesday, the Environment Minister rejected the slaughter of animals, admitting a revision of the Hunting Law, specifically with regard to mounts.
“According to the law, they do not have to be communicated to the ICNF [Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas] hunt and ride. This is actually an error that, in order to be corrected, requires a change in the law from which these events are reported ”, stated João Pedro Matos Fernandes, who described what happened as an“ absolutely vile and ignoble act ”.
That same day it was announced that the ICNF suspended the license for the Torre Bela Hunting Zone in Azambuja, with immediate effect, presenting a report of a crime against the preservation of fauna to the Public Ministry.
