There are 606 hunting lots throughout the country: those lots incorporate the land of private individuals which include parts of forests or fields. These individuals have their interests represented by hunters' syndicates, who all fall under the umbrella association of the hunters' federation.
At the meeting in Merzig, the federation expressed its disagreement with the Ministry of the Environment's new redistribution of hunting lots. The federation has raised issues about a 2011 law for the past few years, highlighting that the authorities did not consider the consequences of the law at all. The federation deplored the lack of ownership rights in the law.
Gast Welbes, one of the members of the federation's committee, decried the arbitrary drawing of lot borders, such as through a forest, due to these borders suiting the authorities better. This, Welbes argued, would lead to a number of negative aspects. However, Welbes did support the idea of redrawing the boundaries.
He went on to explain that the error is not a sudden one, but one that had been building over years. Those owning the land would not be directly impacted, but those working and hunting on the land in question would be subject to many new issues. Adding to those issues is the proliferation of wild boars in Luxembourg.
The hunters continue to maintain that there is a distinct lack of clarity, despite the authorities claiming the contrary. As on previous occasions, both Marc Reiter, the vice president of the federation, and the representatives of the syndicates deplored the lack of dialogue.
In the continuing lack of dialogue, the authorities had released a map detailing the new boundaries alongside a note stating that the regulation would enter into effect on 1 December. For the past two years, the hunters have been asking the authorities what kind of timing to expect. In response, the authorities only confirmed that there was a sufficient amount of time. The federation maintained on Monday that the authorities must work hard to be on good terms with hunters.
The ministry will counter the hunters' dissatisfaction later on Tuesday evening.
