2023-04-26 18:44:10
Canton of Vaud
Agents can now fine you in the forest
Those who walk in nature and who commit offenses can now be fined by members of the canton’s “wildlife-nature police force”.
Published
Walkers do not always respect the prohibitions and recommendations in the forest. At their own risk.
IMAGO/ingimage
Do you like nature walks in the canton of Vaud? Beware! If you don’t keep your dog on a leash in nature reserves or during wildlife whelping season, walk on unauthorized paths, or catch a trout in a prohibited area, you risk getting pass a fine of up to 300 francs by an “agent of the wildlife-nature police force”, the new name for the wildlife, forest or fishing guards of the canton.
Because they are now competent to collect fines for hunting, fishing and forestry. Indeed, several laws adopted by the Grand Council of Vaud last summer entered into force between January 1 and April 1. They are modeled on what is already practiced in the cantons of Friborg and Valais.
This revision came as a new federal law, which entered into force in 2020, extended the scope of fines, hitherto reserved mainly for road traffic.
A forest police called for in Aargau
A regulation that not all cantons have, to the chagrin of some. Indeed, in Aargau, the president of the hunters of the canton, Rainer Klöti, has just demanded the establishment of a “forest police” composed of wildlife guards or forest guards authorized to impose fines or expel offenders , according to’Aargau newspaper Tuesday. “Fine words and good faith are not enough to master the frenzy of recreation in the forest,” he said. The man cited as an example a tunnel intended for wildlife under a road and a railway line, but used mainly by pedestrians and cyclists. But the mere smell of people is enough to prevent animals from passing through, he recalls.
In the canton of Vaud, people should not be very verbalized. Indeed, they generally respect nature rather well, according to Jean Rosset, the cantonal forest inspector. There is sometimes waste, improvised fires and other incivilities, but nothing serious so far, according to him. However, he warns that the Vaudois are always more numerous in the woods, which increases the risk of depredations. “But the current system of rangers and wildlife monitors works relatively well in relation to this public pressure,” he said, referring to a guide to forest etiquette published by the Working Community for the Forest and which reminds walkers how to respect nature and wildlife.
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