The south German mountain forest is extremely important as a protection forest preventing or mitigating the impact of avalanches, debris flow and falling rocks. The Bavarian State Forestry Administration is responsible for maintaining the mountain forests in good condition. At the same time, the forests are home to red deer, chamois and roe deer. In some areas, these animals prevent the natural regeneration of the mountain forests. Because hunting laws and the laws governing the right to hunt in Germany are linked to land, the Forestry Administration has no direct means of influencing the spatial distribution of the game or the level of the hunting bag. The district hunting authorities are responsible for the latter. This state of affairs leads to the conflict of interests known in Germany as the “forest-game conflict”.
In order to solve this forest-game conflict, which is in fact a conflict of interest between different groups of people, people in the Oberallgäu region have taken a new approach, different to the rest of Germany.
The settlement that has been arrived at between the interests of the forestry industry and the game industry is based on a scientific report compiled by Schröder et al. (2012). Since its publishing, the hunting bag plan is no longer driven from the bottom upwards, as is usual, but from the top downwards. The basis for this is an annual assessment of the population numbers and expected increase in numbers for the most important type of game, the red deer, on the basis of the hunting bag realised and annual counts. These results are discussed in a project group made up of representatives of the forestry industry and hunters, and the information is passed on down the line by them. Unlike the “normal” planning of the level of the hunting bag in Germany, in the Oberallgäu region, both the district hunting advisory committee and the project group that has been set up are closely involved with the planning at all stages. In order to guarantee the involvement of all parties, 1 or 2 excursions are carried out in addition to the committee meetings, during which issues and solutions to problems are discussed on site with land-owners, forest-owners, Alpine farmers, foresters, hunters and conservationists.
The talks are coordinated and led by a wildlife biologist, the first of his kind in Germany. As well as providing expertise on game and wildlife, he plays a key role in maintaining the communication between the different interest groups in the Oberallgäu region throughout all planning and talks. He can also draw on the assistance of wildlife experts from the TUM.
All in all, the Oberallgäu method is a complete success. Instead of confrontation between hunters and foresters, the intensive dialogue between the different interest groups has led to a balancing of the different interests.
References:
Schröder, W., Janko, C., Wotschikowsky, U. & König, A. (2012): Schalenwild und Bergwald. Ein Managementplan für den Bereich der Hochwildhegegemeinschaft Sonthofen. TUM, Wildbiologie und Wildtiermanagement, Freising
Topics: Management of Human-Wildlife Conflicts: “Other” Species in Europe
