Olga Tokarczuk, Maja Ostaszewska, Agnieszka Holland and Małgorzata Rozenek-Majdan are among the public figures who have become the faces of a signature campaign supporting hunting reform in Poland. In practice, the proposed legislation would effectively bring hunting to an end in the country. The bill is politically backed by the The Greens (Zieloni), a member of the Civic Coalition (KO), and is also supported by politicians associated with the group led by Paulina Hennig-Kloska. The initiative has additionally received support from Akcja Demokracja, an organization that was previously suspected of illegally financing an election campaign, Gazeta Polska reports.
Last week, the parliamentary Environment Committee held a meeting devoted to Poland’s forestry policy. During the session, environmental activists criticized politicians from the governing coalition, accusing them of betraying their ideals. They expressed frustration with the pace of change, arguing that despite three years of efforts to dismantle the existing system, many uncertainties remain.
As a result, the government has not only lost the support of both foresters and the timber industry but is now also facing criticism from its own activist circles. This suggests that a new campaign issue is being sought – one capable of energizing left-wing activism and giving it a renewed sense of purpose. This time, the target is a relatively small and traditionally elite group that has been heavily criticized and vilified in recent years – hunters.
Left-Wing Activists
A nationwide signature campaign is currently underway in support of a citizens’ bill to reform hunting laws. Representatives of the initiative have been collecting signatures at Poland’s largest festivals, including last week’s Open’er Festival.
“On the first day of the festival alone, we collected one thousand signatures. The encouraging part is that people hardly need convincing. They already know what the issue is and understand the problem. They are also impressed by the members of our committee,” Michał Suchora, chairman of The Greens (Zieloni), told Gazeta Polska.
The exact number of signatures collected so far has not been disclosed. Organizers say the campaign is taking place across Poland in numerous locations. Beauty salons, veterinary clinics and restaurants have joined the initiative. Signatures are also being collected before performances at the Polonia Theatre and Och-Teatr, as well as on the streets. In Warsaw, volunteers gather signatures every Monday and Friday at Five Corners Square.
The goal is to secure 100,000 signatures by September 3, when the proposal is scheduled to be submitted to the office of Speaker of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty. Organizers remain optimistic but say they will continue collecting signatures until the final day if necessary.
As previously noted, the initiative is now primarily supported by politicians connected with the Civic Coalition (KO). Parliamentary backing comes from Urszula Zielińska, Klaudia Jachira, Daria Gosek-Popiołek, Aleksandra Leo, Franciszek Sterczewski and Ewa Szymanowska. More lawmakers are expected to endorse the proposal once it reaches parliament.
Political ties extend even further. Akcja Demokracja is also actively campaigning against hunters. According to NASK, the organization was linked to the creation and distribution of illegal political advertisements promoting Rafał Trzaskowski while attacking his opponents. The group has cooperated with politicians from The Left (Lewica) for years and was particularly active during the rule of Law and Justice (PiS).
Another political connection is the Workshop for All Beings Foundation (Pracownia na rzecz Wszystkich Istot). Members of the organization previously appeared at Civic Coalition (KO) conventions and are now among the key advisers to the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
The 700-Metre Rule
The political nature of the initiative is also reflected in the way it has been designed. It is promoted under slogans of greater transparency, increased influence for local communities over hunting activities and improved public safety. In reality, however, hunters would largely lose the ability to hunt.
A key example is the proposal to prohibit hunting within 700 metres of buildings. At first glance, the idea may appear reasonable. The problem is that Poland lacks comprehensive spatial planning. As a consequence, hunting would become impossible across the overwhelming majority of the country.
A comparison with wind farm regulations illustrates the scale. Under the existing 700-metre rule, only about 3.4 percent of Poland is available for wind farm development, opening merely around 10,500 square kilometres of land. Poland has approximately 140,000 square kilometres of agricultural land, meaning that most farmland would effectively be left without any means of protection against wildlife damage.
Such regulations would create vast sanctuaries for wild animals spanning entire counties, significantly limiting farming activities and making it much more difficult to respond to outbreaks such as African swine fever.
Hunting Rules in Forests
In theory, hunting in forests could still take place under the proposed legislation. In practice, however, numerous obstacles arise.
The bill offers no clear solution for how hunting would actually be conducted. In Poland, hunting generally falls into two categories: individual and collective hunts.
Individual hunts usually take place from elevated hunting stands, where hunters wait for game that is often attracted with bait. Collective hunts involve driving animals toward a line of hunters.
Under the proposed legislation, both methods would effectively be prohibited.
“The bill expands the list of prohibited activities under Article 42aa of the Hunting Law. Among the banned practices will be allowing unauthorized persons to participate in hunts, hunting under the influence of alcohol or intoxicating substances, hunting from motor vehicles or boats, driven hunts, night hunting, including with night-vision and thermal imaging devices, and shooting in the immediate vicinity of wildlife rehabilitation centres,” the explanatory memorandum to the bill states.
The legislation would also prohibit baiting animals. As a result, it becomes difficult to imagine how legal hunting could realistically take place during daylight hours, when most game animals remain inactive. In practice, hunters would be forced to approach animals while they are resting during the day.
There is also a practical issue. Most hunters are amateurs in the sense that hunting is a hobby pursued outside their regular jobs. They must finance this pastime through their primary employment, and many cannot simply adjust their working hours. Consequently, the proposal is less a reform than a de facto ban on hunting, with consequences that critics argue are easy to predict.
Ideological Elimination
According to critics of the proposal, farmers would be the first to feel its effects. Wildlife would increasingly feed on agricultural fields, while populations of animals such as wild boar could rise rapidly. This, they argue, would intensify conflicts between humans and wildlife.
Supporters present the changes as measures designed to improve public safety, a message that critics believe many people unfamiliar with hunting may readily accept. They also argue that politicians are using the issue for political purposes.
In their view, the proposal is not a genuine reform but an ideological dismantling of Poland’s hunting system presented under the banner of public safety.