The Algerian government has recently been issuing new legal protections to protect endangered species in Algeria. The action is a response to months-long national press campaign, denouncing the authorisation given to emirs in the Gulf to hunt wild bustard and gazelle. The animals are threatened with extinction and are supposed to be protected by law. Other species, such as the goldfinch, a songbird native to Algeria, are also being hunted excessively without much protest.
Agriculture Minister Saïd Barkat presented a new draft law for protection of endangered species on 19 October to the National Council.
The new law classifies species according to the threat of extinction and includes a list of 23 species (13 mammals, seven birds and three reptiles). The classification was agreed upon in light of the "growing threat of extinction facing wild animals in Algeria." The law provides for "severe sanctions against hunting, trapping, transporting and trading in species", but under exceptional circumstances, allows some of them to be used for scientific purposes, to facilitate breeding or for nature parks.
Barkat had previously announced to the People's National Assembly that a national commission for the protection of threatened animal species would be created in conjunction with the law.
The commission will ensure "the protection of certain animal species threatened with extinction". It will include animal health and wild animal specialists, whose stated task is to "examine measures to protect these species and to define the areas in which they live and the environments in which they breed".
On the same day the commission was announced, parliamentarians passed the draft order setting out the procedures for the protection of endangered animal species.
Barkat declared that the new system "ensures general protection for all the species concerned without setting out special measures according to the severity of the threat of extinction".
Barkat has also recognised the need for a law to protect the most-threatened species. The minister is planning an agreement on international trade in endangered animal and plant species, which will set out three lists and three levels of protection. He has also said that a law to protect plant life is being prepared to "protect the rich diversity found in Algeria and to respect the international commitments which the country has signed".
By Mohand Ouali