In a joint effort to combat illegal hunting activities threatening nature, two civil society organizations, Center for Environment and Naše Ptice (Our Birds), conducted a monitoring operation in Livanjsko and Duvanjsko Polje on the night from Friday to Saturday. Livno police declined to intervene on-site following reported law violations, causing disappointment but not discouragement for the associations in their mission to end poaching.
The operation aimed to unveil the use of unlawfully prohibited sound decoys known as “callers” for quail hunting, posing a serious threat to the delicate ecosystem of the area. During the field inspection, illegal callers were discovered—three in Livanjsko Polje and one in Duvanjsko Polje.
After locating the callers in Livanjsko Polje, Livno police did not respond to the scene to confiscate them, citing a lack of personnel and equipment as justification.
Photo: (Christoph Moning)
Ena Čorbo from Naše Ptice stated that they won’t give up.
“Naše Ptice and the Center for Environment continue their fight and field operations. We remain hopeful that the authorities will bring quail poaching, as well as poaching in general, under control.”
During the night, another team from Naše Ptice found two more callers in the northern part of Livanjsko Polje, but they had a similar experience with the police. “The responsible police officers from the Livno area did not respond to two different locations and calls from two different teams, which erodes trust in institutions,” said Goran Topić from Naše Ptice.
Nataša Crnković from the Center for Environment emphasized that this was their first involvement in such activities. They monitored Duvanjsko Polje and found an open door at the Tomislavgrad Police Administration. After finding a caller, they visited the police station and, together with officers, returned to the site to remove it. Police authorities will continue investigating this case to apprehend the poachers.
“We are encouraged by the agility, especially among younger police officers, who are unafraid to confront established negative practices. Simultaneously, it is disappointing to observe varying levels of support from police officers in such a small area. We celebrate the steps taken by those officers actively contributing to nature conservation, but we must address resistance or inaction,” stated Igor Kalaba from the Center for Environment.
The main conclusion of a workshop on poaching, held in Livno at the end of July, organized by the Center for Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management, and Forestry of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, was that future efforts to combat poaching in Livanjsko Polje will involve collaborative work among institutions, hunters, and the citizens.
Photo: Electronic caller in Livanjsko polje (Goran Topić)
“This is the first of ‘tests’ for the aforementioned agreement, and we hope that in the upcoming actions, we won’t encounter any electronic callers. However, if we do find them, we expect the competent authorities to react promptly and decisively. Through the anti-poaching protocol we are currently developing, we aim to present to the public the steps for them to also engage in the fight against poaching,” added Igor Kalaba from the Center for Environment.”
Livanjsko polje is an area for which a protection initiative has been submitted and which is the richest area for birds in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These associations remind the public that the quail hunting season is now open, the species that is most often poached using decoys, and they appeal to the competent institutions to intensify surveillance.
Collective efforts by the Center for Environment and Naše Ptice, along with proactive police and inspector officers, as well as representatives of hunters, demonstrate a positive shift towards curbing illegal hunting activities. However, the battle is not yet won, and continued monitoring and collaboration are of paramount importance to ensure the protection of the unique ecosystem of Livanjsko and its surrounding fields.
The poaching monitoring was organized as part of the project “Sustainable Future of the Freshwater Ecosystem of Livanjsko Polje in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” realized by the Center in partnership with the Ornithological Society Naše Ptice and EuroNatur, with support from the DIMFE Foundation.