Following the European Parliament’s vote to weaken wolf protections, a fresh alarm has sounded from Italy—a new hunting reform. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government is preparing to present a draft law to the Council of Ministers that, according to major Italian wildlife protection organizations, could dismantle decades of hard-won environmental safeguards. If passed, it would represent the most serious assault on wildlife in the country’s history.
A reform tailored to lobby interests
Leaked details suggest that the bill seeks to reframe hunting from a recreational activity into one that “contributes to biodiversity protection”—a claim that flies in the face of well-documented evidence on the damaging effects of hunting on wildlife conservation. The draft legislation would include:
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The expansion of huntable areas, including public lands such as beaches, forests, and dunes;
- An obligation for regional governments to reduce protected areas deemed “excessive,” with override powers granted to the Ministry of Agriculture;
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A broader list of huntable species, dictated by political interests rather than scientific expertise;
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Permission to hunt on snow-covered ground and after sunset, heightening public safety concerns;
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The reopening of trapping stations for live decoys, with the number of target species rising from 7 to 47—making monitoring nearly impossible and fueling poaching and wildlife trafficking;
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The removal of limits on constructing permanent hunting blinds and the liberalization of hunting on private land;
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Approval for hunting contests even during nesting season and without time restrictions;
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The issuance of hunting licenses to foreign nationals with no requirement for training in Italian wildlife regulations;
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Fines of up to €900 for anyone protesting the killing of animals during population control activities—while sanctions for poaching and trafficking remain unchanged.
Animal welfare groups warn that this sweeping and dangerous list goes far beyond regulatory revision—it amounts to the privatization of nature itself. It risks placing Italy’s wildlife in the hands of a select few, threatening not only ecosystem balance but also public safety and the right of all citizens to enjoy nature freely.
A dangerous, anti-scientific path
The proposed legislation comes at a particularly sensitive moment, amid ongoing debates about the legality and implications of the EU’s downgrading of wolf protection status. Italy’s government seems to be taking a similar approach: siding with powerful interest groups, while ignoring scientific data, European directives, and public opinion. Polls increasingly show that a majority of Italians oppose hunting and favor stronger protections for wildlife.
A call to action
What concerns environmentalists and legal experts most is the bill’s implicit privatization of wild fauna: no longer treated as a shared public good, but as a resource to be exploited by a minority. This model directly contradicts the Italian Constitution, which recognizes nature as a heritage to be protected for future generations.
As Italy’s leading animal welfare organizations have warned, anyone who supports this hunting reform will be complicit in an environmental and ethical disaster. This is not just an assault on animals—it’s an attack on culture, sustainable tourism, citizen safety, and the basic right to walk in nature without the fear of gunfire.
For these reasons, VEGANOK stands alongside the country’s animal advocacy groups in calling on all opposition parties to mobilize, and on majority lawmakers to block the bill before it reaches Parliament. The appeal extends to civil society as a whole: committees, researchers, businesses, hikers, and everyday citizens.
