National Game Management Database of Hungary

Ecological And Historical Background

Sustainable use of wild populations is a priority in international conservation treaties and relevant European Union (EU) legislation (Brainerd, 2007; Ebner, 2007; European Communities, 1979, 1992). However, this is not a new concept; in many countries sustainable use of forests, fish, and game is a century’s old tradition. In Hungary, the first elements of modern, “sustainable” game management were established in the late 19^th century, along with efforts to integrate forestry, agriculture and game management - three interdependent branches of renewable resources (Csányi, 1994; Tóth, 1991).

An annual harvest (culling) plan is fundamental to game species management. Harvest plans were introduced into Hungarian game management in the 1950s. In the 1970s, the next development was to include a compulsory long-term (10-year) game management plan (Csányi, 1998; Tóth, 1991). Incorporating ecological principles into the management of game populations can be facilitated by identifying relatively homogenous regions in which to base game management planning. Theories supporting regional management first appeared in Hungarian game management literature in the 1960s, summarized as “landscape based game management” (Bencze, 1979; Tóth, 1991). Twenty-four game management regions were established in the 1990s based on available data on game management and environmental variables (Csányi, 1993, 1998, 1999a).