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La Grande Nation strays from the straight and narrow*
While in the rest of Europe the minimum standards for protection of migrating birds laid down by the EU are increasingly respected,
1.3 million French hunters and bird trappers bitterly oppose any limitation of the right of every citizen to hunt, granted
during the French Revolution.
Bird trapping, spring hunting of returning migrants, even hunting during the breeding season - these rights are taken
for granted even today in many French Départements.
Although the main problem is the continued trapping of birds on a massive scale in the Ardennes and the South of France,
the survival of many species such as Skylark, Lapwing and Ortolan Bunting are also increasingly threatened. Grilled song birds
in gin flambé are still considered an autumn delicacy, even by top French politicians. With the support of the European Parliament
and the European Commission, conservationists from all over Europe want to force the government in Paris to incorporate the
EU bird protection guidelines, valid since 1981, into national legislation. France's environmental movement also shows noticeably
more courage in stating their case and wins increasing support; whilst the number of registered hunters has slowly but surely
declined for years.
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