In order to find solutions to improve the next CAP (post-2020), FACE organised the conference “The Next CAP: Armageddon for hares, pheasants & Co.?” on 4 September 2018 with Members of the European Parliament, representatives from the European Commission, delegates from the European hunting associations and stakeholders.

European hunters are aware that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a crucial support mechanism for agriculture and rural areas in Europe. However, the current CAP has a significant negative impact on the environment, biodiversity and the status of many huntable and non-huntable species in agricultural landscapes. Most small game populations have dramatically decreased due to intense agricultural practices (dramatic loss of quality habitat and food, with poor insect abundance) and the utilisation of unsustainable agricultural production methods.

The conference – hosted and chaired by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz, President of the European Parliament’s “Biodiversity, Hunting, Countryside” Intergroup – set out to debate the future of small game conservation in intensively cultivated agricultural landscapes, where habitat loss is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity.