Ban hunting at home? A civic act !

It’s a kind of anti-hunting extension of our Arches of Nature, which aims to reclaim our environment, for a richer and more varied biodiversity… One Voice wants to encourage every French landowner to make a sanctuary of their land, without having to endure hunters and their dogs who can freely pass through it to hunt down their victims.

A hunter hunting at your place ...

Because the hunting lobby has nevertheless succeeded in an historic feat of having, in the name of the general interest accorded to their hunting activities, the right to relieve the owners of private land of the power to say no… Since 1964 and the Verdeille law, named after an ardent Senator from the Tarn and who is a hunter, France has enjoyed a special feature. This special feature is from the Communal Hunting Associations approved (or ACCA, which can be intercommunal, or AICA).

Aiming to establish important hunting areas, the Verdeille law obliges small landowners to bring to these associations certain hunting rights linked to their land so that third parties (hunters) can make use of it. The implementation of this law has been special: today it follows that some municipalities are under the ACCA (or AICA) regime, and others are not.

In the first case, hunters can hunt at your place without asking for your permission, but they are however obliged to respect a security perimeter of 150 m around the dwellings. In the second case (excluding ACCA), there is no security perimeter and the hunters will be able to shoot against your garden fence or, if there is no fence, cross it!

What scheme does your municipality depend on? The easiest way is to get information from your town hall.

Thank you, Europe!

You should know that this Verdeille law was modified following an action brought by owners before the European Court of Human Rights, who were successful. Since July 26^th 2000, a non-hunter can thus withdraw his lands from an approved Communal Hunting Association subject to making an express request.

If your municipality is outside the Association Communale de Chasse Agréée (ACCA or AICA), you can very simply prohibit hunting at home by affixing, at the edge of the property, signs specifying that you do not accept the practice of hunting on your land.

If your municipality is in the ACCA, as soon as your land is fenced off in a “continuous and constant manner, preventing any communication with all neighbouring land and completely preventing the passage of game and that of man", they are automatically excluded from hunting territory (Article L. 422-10 and L. 424-3 of the Environment Code).

Otherwise, you can also formulate a territorial opposition to the practice of hunting on your land if they is a minimum of 20 hectares in one area (3 ha in the case of marshes, 1 ha for a pond… but at least 100 ha in mountain areas above the limit of forest vegetation). You will then have to write to the prefect of your department (registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt), mentioning the cadastral references of all the parcels concerned (Articles L. 422-10 3 °, L. 422-13 and L. 422- 18 of the Environment Code).

No to hunting, a real conviction!

Fortunately, small landowners can also ban hunting in the name of their personal convictions (Art. L. 422-10 5 °, L. 422-14, L. 422-15 and L. 422-18 of the Code of the environment). But this is a real act of faith because it requires an important formalism.

Here you must send the Prefect of your department a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt stating that you want your land to be prohibited from hunting due to your personal beliefs (see attached standard letter). Please note, this request must be made within a specific period (at least six months before the expiration of a period of five years from the date of creation of your ACCA. Your prefecture must inform you of this date upon request).

In addition to three copies of your request letter, in addition to the cadastral maps and plot numbers of the land concerned, it is recommended to attach copies of the letters that you wish to send to the local hunting society, the mayor and the services. ONCFS premises, to inform them of your decision. Let's be civil ...

Once the ACCA withdrawal is granted, you will be required to place "no hunting" signs along your property lines. Be careful, the law is tenacious: if you sell your property, the new owner will have to confirm within six months the withdrawal of the ACCA, otherwise the land will fall back into the rights to roam, in other words into the bosom of the hunters.