France Proposes 12,000 Turtle Dove Hunting Quota, but Experts Add Key Caveat

The French government has proposed authorising the taking of 12,000 European turtle doves during the 2026-2027 season. The measure is set out in a draft order opened to public consultation by the French Ministry for Ecological Transition and subsequently reported by specialist outlet Chasse Passion. As of the date of the documents reviewed, it remains a proposal, not a final authorisation published in the official journal.

The scientific backing also comes with an important caveat. France’s Committee of Experts on Adaptive Management, known by its French acronym CEGA, considers that the quota may be compatible with sustainable hunting when the western migratory flyway is assessed as a whole. However, its opinion dated July 17, 2026 states that current knowledge does not support the same conclusion for birds breeding in France or passing through the country.

A national quota monitored in real time

The proposed figure is higher than the 10,560-turtle-dove ceiling established for 2025-2026 by the French order of August 27, 2025. According to the CEGA report, 7,483 birds were taken and declared during that season, equivalent to 71% of the available quota.

The new draft sets the opening date for September 5, 2026, and establishes the 12,000 birds as an absolute limit across metropolitan France. Every bird taken would have to be registered immediately in ChassAdapt. The French National Federation of Hunters would submit the data daily to the Office français de la biodiversité and the relevant ministry.

Once the national ceiling was reached, the federation would have to block new declarations in the app and announce the suspension of hunting. Any turtle dove shot after the closure had been announced would constitute an offence. These conditions will need to be checked again in the final order because the document reviewed still contains incomplete fields and several material errors.

Recovery is not uniform across the flyway

The European data used by CEGA estimate that the breeding population along the western flyway reached approximately 2.12 million pairs in 2025. The report records four consecutive seasons of growth and a cumulative increase of 46.6% since 2021, driven mainly by trends in the Iberian population.

The picture changes when France is considered separately. National monitoring indicates stabilisation, rather than statistically demonstrated growth: the estimated change between 2021 and 2025 was 3%, with a confidence interval ranging from a 6% decline to a 13% increase. The committee therefore cannot confirm that the proposed quota is sustainable specifically for the French population, even though it considers it compatible at the level of the migratory flyway as a whole.

The OFB species profile notes that the loss and degradation of agricultural habitats remain among the main pressures affecting the species. CEGA itself calls for stronger monitoring through ringing and genomic studies, better enforcement in areas recording the highest numbers of birds taken, and implementation of the habitat conservation measures planned since 2021.