Law No. LP55/2024 “On hunting and protection of the hunting fund”.

This Law establishes the legal basis for the sustainable development, protection, conservation and rational use of game fauna, and regulates the rights of individuals to practice hunting. It governs the management and administration of the national game fund, defined as all hunting grounds and their habitats, and aims to ensure the protection, reproduction and conservation of game species and their habitats, the implementation of sustainable development principles, the rational use of game fauna for biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, and the protection of the rights and interests of hunters, landowners and game fund managers. The Law excludes certain captive or farmed animals from its scope and provides detailed definitions of key terms related to hunting, game management and the game fund. The Law sets criteria for the constitution, organization and management of hunting grounds, including minimum area, delimitation, documentation (maps, files, management plans) and the possibility of establishing game breeding facilities. It requires a 15 year game management plan for each hunting ground, with objectives such as respecting boundaries, ensuring optimal hunting regimes and maintaining optimal game populations, and mandates the designation of quiet zones covering at least 10% of productive hunting areas. It regulates the transfer of hunting grounds into use through open auctions to eligible legal entities, the content and duration of use contracts, annual payments, conditions for renewal, and the circumstances and procedures for suspension and termination of contracts. It defines the obligations of game fund managers, including staffing, sustainable management, compliance with national and international norms, habitat and game protection, disease control, infrastructure maintenance, marking of boundaries and ensuring security. The Law assigns the Ministry of Environment as administrator of the national game fund, detailing its powers to constitute, allocate, monitor and control hunting grounds, approve optimal game populations and hunting quotas, and adjust hunting seasons in exceptional situations or during states of emergency. It regulates state control by the Environmental Protection Inspectorate, rules for stocking hunting grounds, and a broad list of prohibitions to protect game and habitats (e.g. unauthorized captivity, destruction of facilities, harmful chemicals, abandonment of domestic animals, use of lead shot in certain areas). It establishes the legal framework for hunting rights and seasons, including special derogations for wild boar in the context of African swine fever and other epizootics, and limits hunting days. It regulates who may hunt or participate in hunting, the issuance, validity, conditions, suspension and annulment of hunter’s cards, and the attributes allowed in hunting. It defines illicit hunting (poaching) through a series of prohibited acts, sets out liability (disciplinary, civil, administrative, criminal), confiscation of tools and game, joint liability of participants, and rules on compensation for damage caused by game or to game fauna.