Measuring progress in nature conservation
against the CBD and PEBLDS
New hunting law in Croatia
Green Action prepared a position paper on the new law proposal
(much worse in comparison with former law) in May 2005 and
issued a press release in the media about it. The position
paper was sent to the Parliamentarians and Green Action negotiated
with one Parliamentarian to present our position during the
debate. It was broadcasted on TV and radio stations and published
in some daily papers. The topic caused reaction from the public
as well, as people were phoning Green Action and providing
examples and data on poaching and law violation. The action
was successful, as only due to our work the law proposal was
not adopted in the fast procedure, but slowed down in the
normal procedure, meaning that it would go through two to
three more readings and this gave us time to better prepare
comments and advocate for better lawmaking.
In November the proposal was adopted in the second reading
in Parliament. This version was substantially better in comparison
with the former version and some Green Action comments were
integrated. The work on the hunting legislation involved extensive
media work (TV, radio shows - live debate with hunters and
newspaper interviews) and lobbying work with politicians and
Parliamentarians. We attended the meeting of the Parliamentary
committees and presented our positions there. The legislation
is still lacking quite a lot of provisions to eliminate poaching
(such is legal possession of various hunting tools used for
poaching of which usage is illegal). But to influence the
law and change articles from the position of the environmental
NGO is a big step forward in this country. It is also important
to know, that due to our activities the theme has become a
topic in the media including TV and this is leading to the
awareness rising among local authorities and communities.
In providing analysis of the legislation we connected different
experts to provide better input, namely from WWF Mediterranean
Policy Office, WWF Hungary, Friends of the Earth Europe, CEEweb,
Ornithological Society, Euronatur and animal protection NGOs
in Croatia.
Comments on the proposal of the new law and advocating for
better lawmaking was made with reference to national commitments
under the CBD, CITES and Bern Convention.
