Drawing up of a Code Good Practice about measures to prevent wildlife damage by protected species and game species (CGPWILDSCHADE)

The main goal of this project is to provide an accurate definition of “reasonably achievable preventive measures for wildlife damage” as written in recent legislation on wildlife damage (BVR 3 July 2009). Once these research results are available, we seek to achieve a consensus with several public organizations from the agricultural, nature and hunting sectors. This part of the project lays the foundation for a Code of Good Practice for wildlife damage prevention, to be published by the Nature and Forest Agency of Flanders.

ILVO is responsible for a literature study about possible measures to prevent wildlife damage. Concretely, we study different methods of fencing, visual and acoustic repellent devices. We use scientific literature to make an assessment of each measure’s effectiveness. We also make a rough estimate of the price and effort required to install and maintain the various protective measures.

Complaints about wildlife damage in Flanders have been increasing over the past decennia. The majority of records obtained by the agricultural sector point to crop damage caused either by bird species such as pigeons or geese or by mammals such as roe deer and wild boar. An increasing number of citizens also experience nuisance by species that seem to prefer human infrastructures and the urban environment. Some examples are stone martens, which are capable of damaging roofs and isolation materials, or foxes that kill chickens.

The Flemish Government wishes to inform citizens about preventive measures and provides – under certain conditions – a compensation for serious damage inflicted by protected species and game species that originated from nature sites under own management or managed by official organizations.