St. Galler Massnahmenplan Wald-Wild-Lebensraum (Essay)

The St. Gallen action plan “Forests-Wildlife-Habitat” (essay) Forests and wild ungulates coexist in nature and this coexistence is reflected in forest and hunting legislation. Planning for forestry and for hunting must ensure this coexistence with appropriate measures and optimize it in both time and space. Coexistence between forests and wild ungulates is a permanent area of tension, where escalation of tensions must be avoided. For this reason the Economy Department of the Canton of St. Gallen set up in 2012 a commission on Forests-Wildlife-Habitat, charged with preparing recommendations on how to address this issue. In the commission were represented hunting, forestry and – a new development – agriculture. In 2015, after a three-year process, the action plan for sustainable management of Forests-Wildlife-Habitat, signed by 18 cantonal associations of forestry, agriculture and hunting, could be approved by the Economy Department. The action plan proposes measures in nine areas, with the aim of optimizing ecological habitat quality, regulating game populations in function of the habitat, and improving communication, cooperation and training.