Final report of the PROTEGE N°3 project on participatory hunting-regulation actions

Abstract

As part of the PROTEGE project, the Agence néo-Calédonienne de la Biodiversité (ANCB) has coordinated the implementation of training courses (safety, weapon maintenance and adjustment) and participative hunting-regulation actions for enslaved deer and pigs, via services provided by the Fédération de la Faune et de la Chasse de Nouvelle-Calédonie (FFCNC). The objectives of this action are to disseminate pig control techniques and make them accessible, to contribute to the local dynamics of invasive ungulate management, and to participate indirectly in the sustainable reduction of damage caused by invasive ungulates in priority areas, particularly in cultivated fields near tribes. In addition, participatory actions and the mobilization of resident hunters in the intervention zones have helped to facilitate a better understanding of the project and, by the same token, its social acceptance, in particular innovative actions such as i) the use of a thermal drone to assess the level of deer abundance and concentration, and ii) professional ground control with the contribution of operators not resident in the intervention zones.