Holland to liberalise hunting laws?

Posted on 20 December 2011 by Content Manager

The Netherlands will decentralise responsibility for wildlife management and
open up hunting opportunities under a new Nature Act its government is
attempting to put into action.

Henk Bleker, the country's Deputy Minister for Agriculture, has put forward
the bill, which would reduce protections on non-endangered animals and allow
private landholders to regulate hunting on their blocks.

He would like to see a market-driven approach to wildlife control and nature
conservation, but his bill has angered opposition groups, especially the Animal
Rights Party.

Bleker last Friday survived a no-confidence motion brought against him by
the ARP after he'd blocked their efforts to ban ritual slaughter.

Some of Holland's 12 provinces have already said they would not accept the
new responsibilities handed to them under the bill, particularly as they would
be liable for damage done by wildlife but would have no say in when hunting
seasons would occur.

Animals such as pigs and red deer, currently protected in the Netherlands
despite large and often destructive populations, would be back on the list of
species that can be hunted there for the first time in years.

In a statement reminiscent of the attitudes of Katter's Australian Party, Mr
Bleker responded to criticism by asking, "Why must the Hague licence or
ban everything?"

The NSW Shooters and Fishers Party added its support to Holland's move.

"We sustainably manage our abundant kangaroo populations and control
our ferals," MLC Robert Borsak said. "Holland is at last looking to
catch up!"