In theory, the strictest protection regime; in practice, virtually nothing
Back in August 2023, Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen and the environmental organisation Dryade took the Flemish Government to court. “This ruling finally forces the government to take responsibility,” addsElias Van Marckeof Dryade. “Under the European Habitats Directive, the wild hamster has enjoyed the strictest protection since 1994, but little has been seen in Belgium over the past 30 years of the resulting conservation and restoration obligations for Member States. In 2004, the European Commission formally notified the Belgian government of its failure to comply. Unfortunately, this did not bring about a lasting change.”
“We have repeatedly sounded the alarm,” said Van Rompaey, “but we found that the Flemish government was failing to meet its legal obligations to restore the wild hamster’s population. In doing so, it has actively contributed to the species’ near extinction in Flanders.”
Time for concrete and effective recovery measures
The Flemish Government is ordered to “take urgent (binding) measures to restore the wild hamster in Flanders to a favourable conservation status, which implies, amongst other things, that the Flemish Region must provide the minimum area of suitable habitat required for this purpose, with hamster-friendly crops and a sufficiently large hamster population.”
At present, only a few dozen individuals remain in the Limburg municipality of Widooie. To ensure the species’ long-term conservation, 10,000 to 20,000 individuals are needed, along with at least 600 hectares of hamster-friendly habitat. “The habitat must be large enough and of sufficiently high quality,” says Van Marcke. “For decades, the hamster has been a victim of the intensification of our agriculture. As a result of increased scale, less varied crops, faster harvesting and the use of pesticides, they find too little food and shelter in the modern countryside.”
“The measures that need to be taken now do not, incidentally, benefit just the hamster,” adds Van Rompaey. “By boosting biodiversity in the countryside, other species, such as farmland birds and insects, stand to gain as well.”
“The hamster has won not only in court today, but hopefully in the wild as well,” said Van Marcke. “This ruling confirms that the government cannot allow a protected species to disappear with impunity. Now is the time for action. We look forward to seeing how the Flemish government will act on this ruling.”
Read the Hamster ruling of the Court of First Instance in Brussels