09 May 2005 - Acceptance that sustainable, ethical and recreational hunting does contribute to conservation
During the 3rd World Congress of IUCN, the motion repeated in full below was presented by the South African delegation and was accepted. It is a significant document and it will help enormously to answer those critics who argue that sustainable, ethical, recreational hunting does not contribute to conservation. For further reading on the Congress go to www.iucn.org and click the 3rd World Congress icon.
The motion in full reads as follows:
RECWCC3.093. Application of the IUCN Sustainable Use Policy to sustainable consumptive use of wildlife and recreational hunting in southern Africa.
Congress reference: CGR.REC007-REV1
RECALLING that the conservation of biological diversity is central to the mission of IUCN (Policy Statement on Sustainable Use of Wild Living Resources, Annex to resolution 2.29 adopted at the 2nd Session of the World Conservation Congress, Amman, 2000);
RECOGNIZING that in southern Africa, as encompassed by the IUCN regional office for Southern Africa (ROSA), the total area of communal and privately owned land on which sustainable consumptive use of wildlife through trading of live animals and recreational hunting takes place, exceeds that of all state-owned protected areas;
UNDERSTANDING that in southern Africa, ecologically sustainable consumptive use of wildlife may contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by providing an economic incentive for the conservation of natural areas;
NOTING that there are a range of options of deriving economic and ecosystem/conservation benefits from the presence of wildlife, including ecotourism, and that consumptive use is imply one of these options, and should be assessed along with other options to determine which option is most ecologically appropriate;
NOTING strong opposition for all forms of ‘Canned hunting’ where the hunted animals have little or no chance of escape);
RECOGNIZING that policies aimed at biodiversity conservation need to be based also on the particular values, circumstances and cultures of specific regions;
RECOGNIZING that in much of southern Africa, wildlife on communal and privately-owned land is accommodated because it provides an economically viable form of land use; and that where it is successfully implemented, well-managed consumptive utilisation, including recreational hunting, enables retention of wildlife populations and ecosystems functions on large areas of land that would otherwise be used for agriculture; and
RECOGNIZING FURTHER that the management of these populations and their habitats makes a contribution to biodiversity conservation;
The World Conservation Congress at its 3rd session in Bangkok, Thailand, 17-25 November 2004:
1. SUPPORTS the philosophy and practice that on state, communal and privately-owned land in southern Africa the sustainable and well-managed consumptive use of wildlife makes a contribution to biodiversity conservation;
2. ACCEPTS that well-managed recreational hunting has a role in the managed sustainable consumptive use of wildlife populations;
3. CONDEMNS the killing of animals in small enclosures where they have little or no chance of escape or where they do not exist as free-ranging; and
4. RECOMMENDS those agencies in South Africa responsible for:
(a) the control of wildlife utilization and hunting should implement measures to ensure that codes of high ethical conduct and standards are achieved and maintained in accordance with the Earth Charter (Article 15b) and that to give use of the remains to the local communities; and
(b) biodiversity conservation should take steps to increase public awareness and understanding of the ecologically sustainable use of wildlife.
|
