Proposed UK trophy ban ‘hypocritical, racist’, report warns
The proposed bill to ban the import of hunting trophies into the UK is now before a select committee of the House of Lords in its parliament, where a detailed examination of the bill will be undertaken.
The committee stage starts within a couple of weeks of a bill’s second reading, which took place on 16 June, ahead of which the pro-trophy hunting group Resource Africa sent peers a campaign document.
Titled 'The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: The Risks to Conservation, Rights, and Livelihoods', the document describes the proposed legislation as "at best hypocritical, and at worst neo-colonial and racist."
Not a major threat
The bill is intended to ban the import of hunting trophies from a list of around 6 000 species, including trophies from animals such as lions, rhinos, and elephants.
"Over the last 22 years, the UK has imported hunting trophies from only 73 animal species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)," the report highlighted.
It said trophy hunting does not pose a major threat to any of the listed species.
"The bill is problematic for a number of reasons. Key amongst these problems – given that the bill is intended to support conservation – is that it is likely to undermine conservation success in many countries across Africa and elsewhere."
It said undermining the viability of the hunting industry through an import ban, reduces the incentives for governments, landowners and local communities to conserve land as wildlife habitat rather than convert it to uses such as agriculture, invest in anti-poaching activities, and tolerate dangerous wildlife.
Fake news
According to the report, the parliamentary debate surrounding the bill has also been driven by pervasive and widespread misinformation from animal rights activists, backed up by celebrities and social media.
It claimed that the debate has ignored conservation expertise – even that provided by the UK government’s own scientific advisory body.
"The focus only on restricting imports – and undermining trophy hunting elsewhere, but not domestically – therefore appears deeply hypocritical. The UK government is sending a signal that what is morally acceptable in the UK is not acceptable in other countries.
"It appears to be implying that it knows best, while in practice it has a lot to learn from the countries whose conservation will be undermined by this bill."
Hunting key component of conservation
For example, Namibia, Botswana and Tanzania (all of which use trophy hunting) are the top-three countries of the world for large mammal conservation – while the UK ranks 123rd, the report pointed out.
According to the report, in Namibia, trophy hunting contributes 20% more to the national economy than the whole small livestock farming sector.
A large proportion of Namibia’s wildlife lives on communal lands, which are managed in the form of conservancies, generating income for local people.
"Only 1% of Namibia’s legally harvested animals are taken as trophies, the rest go to the game meat market. A trophy animal generates 20–50 times more revenue than an animal used for meat."
Trophy hunting is therefore a vital component of the wildlife economy's value chain.
Undermining models
The report added that the bill has generated significant pushback from national governments and local communities, who view it as undermining their chosen conservation models.
Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe have raised concerns with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), stating that an import ban would undermine their ability to use trophy hunting in their wildlife management programmes. The government also highlighted the lack of a formal consultation process.
The report proposes that rather than apply a blanket ban on the imports of all hunting trophies, a better way forward would be to allow the imports of trophies where it can be demonstrated that rather than to apply a blanket ban on the imports of all hunting trophies, a better way forward would be to allow the imports of trophies where it can be demonstrated that hunting makes a positive contribution to conservation and local livelihoods.
The committee stage starts within a couple of weeks of a bill’s second reading, which took place on 16 June, ahead of which the pro-trophy hunting group Resource Africa sent peers a campaign document.
Titled 'The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill: The Risks to Conservation, Rights, and Livelihoods', the document describes the proposed legislation as "at best hypocritical, and at worst neo-colonial and racist."
Not a major threat
The bill is intended to ban the import of hunting trophies from a list of around 6 000 species, including trophies from animals such as lions, rhinos, and elephants.
"Over the last 22 years, the UK has imported hunting trophies from only 73 animal species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)," the report highlighted.
It said trophy hunting does not pose a major threat to any of the listed species.
"The bill is problematic for a number of reasons. Key amongst these problems – given that the bill is intended to support conservation – is that it is likely to undermine conservation success in many countries across Africa and elsewhere."
It said undermining the viability of the hunting industry through an import ban, reduces the incentives for governments, landowners and local communities to conserve land as wildlife habitat rather than convert it to uses such as agriculture, invest in anti-poaching activities, and tolerate dangerous wildlife.
Fake news
According to the report, the parliamentary debate surrounding the bill has also been driven by pervasive and widespread misinformation from animal rights activists, backed up by celebrities and social media.
It claimed that the debate has ignored conservation expertise – even that provided by the UK government’s own scientific advisory body.
"The focus only on restricting imports – and undermining trophy hunting elsewhere, but not domestically – therefore appears deeply hypocritical. The UK government is sending a signal that what is morally acceptable in the UK is not acceptable in other countries.
"It appears to be implying that it knows best, while in practice it has a lot to learn from the countries whose conservation will be undermined by this bill."
Hunting key component of conservation
For example, Namibia, Botswana and Tanzania (all of which use trophy hunting) are the top-three countries of the world for large mammal conservation – while the UK ranks 123rd, the report pointed out.
According to the report, in Namibia, trophy hunting contributes 20% more to the national economy than the whole small livestock farming sector.
A large proportion of Namibia’s wildlife lives on communal lands, which are managed in the form of conservancies, generating income for local people.
"Only 1% of Namibia’s legally harvested animals are taken as trophies, the rest go to the game meat market. A trophy animal generates 20–50 times more revenue than an animal used for meat."
Trophy hunting is therefore a vital component of the wildlife economy's value chain.
Undermining models
The report added that the bill has generated significant pushback from national governments and local communities, who view it as undermining their chosen conservation models.
Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe have raised concerns with the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), stating that an import ban would undermine their ability to use trophy hunting in their wildlife management programmes. The government also highlighted the lack of a formal consultation process.
The report proposes that rather than apply a blanket ban on the imports of all hunting trophies, a better way forward would be to allow the imports of trophies where it can be demonstrated that rather than to apply a blanket ban on the imports of all hunting trophies, a better way forward would be to allow the imports of trophies where it can be demonstrated that hunting makes a positive contribution to conservation and local livelihoods.
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