Ministry expects changes after bear quota hunting consultation

Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry received 24 statements on a draft regulation that would expand quota-based bear hunting across the country, Yle reports. The ministry expects the text and its explanatory memorandum to be amended.

Quota-based bear hunting is currently permitted only in the reindeer herding area. Elsewhere in Finland, bears can be hunted only under exemption permits.

The consultation period ended on Friday. The submissions came from nature conservation organisations, hunting organisations, authorities, municipalities and private individuals.

According to Sami Niemi, a senior official at the ministry, the views were divided as expected. Nature conservation organisations generally oppose the proposal, while municipalities in important bear regions, hunting organisations and many authorities support it.

Ministry officials will now assess whether the statements require changes to the draft. Niemi said the most significant submissions came from the Office of the Chancellor of Justice and the Ministry of the Environment.

“It is clear that we need to supplement the explanatory memorandum and address certain issues in greater detail,” Niemi said.

The changes will concern, in particular, how the regulation ensures case-by-case consideration under Article 16 of the EU Habitats Directive. Officials will also examine whether the requirements of the 1998 Aarhus Convention are met. The convention concerns access to information, public participation in decision-making and rights to appeal and initiate proceedings in environmental matters.

Officials are working to complete the presentation of the government regulation as quickly as possible.

For this autumn, the Finnish Wildlife Agency has granted 182 exemption permits in the eastern and central population management areas. The appeal period ends only one week before the hunting season begins on August 20. In recent years, appeals to administrative courts have effectively prevented the hunts.

Niemi said the situation is now different because the Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that the bear exemption permits issued last year were lawful.