Fox hunting banned in the province of Utrecht: ‘Disaster for meadow birds in Eempolder’

The court considered an exemption that the province has issued to the Utrecht Fauna Management Unit and made a decision on Wednesday. Under that exemption, foxes could be shot at night in meadow bird areas and at farms that keep free-range chickens, so-called ‘Freilandbedrijven’.

The judge ruled that the exemption from the province is not valid, because it was insufficiently made clear how many chickens are killed at night, what the fox’s share is and how great the damage is to agricultural companies. The court also has another decision from the minister, which states that foxes may be killed during the day if they cause damage, is ‘non-binding’. This means that in the event of a conflict of laws or regulations, the higher law automatically applies.

A provision can only be included in a ministerial regulation if this is provided for somewhere in the law. Often there is something along the lines of ‘by ministerial regulation can…’ But in the Nature Conservation Act, on which the regulation is based, this does not occur anywhere. “A ministerial regulation can only exist if the legislator gives explicit permission for this. That is not the case now. The judges have found an error,” says Pauline de Jong of Fauna4Life.

Animal advocacy organizations Animal Rights and Fauna4Life speak of a fantastic victory. “It is a ruling with major consequences. The court has also declared the minister’s decision to be allowed to kill foxes during the day in case of damage, non-binding. Foxes are now safe both during the day and in the middle of the night.

Last weekend there was supposed to be a fox hunt in the bird sanctuary of Natuurmonumenten on the border of Blaricum and Eemnes. The hunt could therefore continue on the Blaricummer side in North Holland, but not in Eemnes in Utrecht.

Collective Eemland speaks of a big blow. The nature organization consists of farmers who are concerned with protecting meadow birds such as the black-tailed godwit. The meadow bird has an important function in farmland: they eat insects, pollinate plants and spread seeds.

“With great difficulty we try to keep the grassland bird population up to standard with all kinds of measures. This works very well, among other things through good consultation with fauna management about combating the fox,” says board member Marcel Vedder of Collective Eemland. According to him, foxes do empty the nests of meadow birds. “We also have that on camera images.”

Wilhelm Bos, area coordinator and secretary of Collective Eemland, foresees disastrous consequences. “If the province does not get this ruling off the table, it will mean the end of the meadow birds in fifteen years.”

The black-tailed godwit, lapwing and oystercatcher are probably the best known of the meadow birds. Other species include the yellow wagtail, redshank, curlew, meadow pipit and skylark. In the past, the ruff and snipe were also common, but they are almost extinct.