Basel-Stadt: a wildlife and hunting act of its own since 2021
The small city canton gave itself its own act in 2021; it applies with its ordinance since 1 April 2024.
The Basel-Stadt parliament adopted, on 27 October 2021, the wildlife and hunting act (Wildtier- und Jagdgesetz, WJG, SG 912.200), based on articles 3 and 25 of the federal hunting act. Its current version has been in force since 1 April 2024, together with the implementing ordinance of 12 March 2024 (WJV, SG 912.210). Paragraph 1 sets out five aims: protecting and promoting native and migratory wild mammals and birds; protecting habitats; sustainable hunting use guided by wildlife-biology and ecological criteria; maintaining healthy populations and suitable habitats, with near-natural connectivity and structure; and giving due weight to the concerns of nature conservation, forestry and agriculture, including under climate-driven change. The act also governs implementation of federal law, and paragraph 2 empowers the government to conclude agreements with other cantons and with territorial authorities across the nearby border on a joint wildlife and hunting organisation — a provision that reflects the canton's geography.