WASHINGTON, D.C. — Willem Konjore, the Minister of Environment and Tourism for Namibia, addressed members of the European Parliament last week, stressing the importance of hunting to the conservation of wildlife and the development of livelihoods in his country.
The visit was supported jointly by SCIF and FACE (The Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU). Minister Konjore spoke to a joint session of two Intergroups Sustainable Hunting, Biodiversity & Countryside Activities and Sustainable Development in Strasbourg, France. An intergroup is the equivalent of a caucus in the U.S. Congress.
Minister Konjore’s speech highlighted the significance of promoting conservation through sustainable hunting and called for a comprehensive approach to wildlife management. His remarks emphasized the economic benefits to local communities as a result of hunting tourism which produces jobs and revenue. The Minister’s speech can be read in its entirety on SCI’s website at www.safariclub.org.
SCIF President Ralph Cunningham said, “SCIF was pleased to support this important visit. Too many people in Europe and the United States do not have a realistic view of the relationships between people and wildlife in Africa, and often have no idea of the importance of hunting in creating incentives for wildlife conservation. Minister Konjore was able to bring the perspective of a less developed country where these issues can reach critical proportions.”
The meeting resulted in a joint declaration by the intergroups endorsing trade in wildlife to facilitate conservation and called upon the European Union to act. The declaration called for the recognition of, “… the importance of sustainable trade in CITES-listed species in promoting stakeholders’ involvement in, and providing funds for, rural development and wildlife conservation, and in particular, to support the proposals of the Range States that wish to promote sustainable use of wildlife as a tool for conservation at the 14th CITES Conference of the Parties at The Hague, Netherlands, in June 2007."
CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The 169 countries that are parties to this global environmental treaty will meet in The Netherlands in June to consider more than 100 wildlife conservation issues. The most important discussions include whether countries such as Namibia, which have healthy and increasing populations of elephants, will be allowed to utilize those populations for the benefit of both the people and further elephant conservation.
The utilization of elephants would be strictly controlled and would pose no threat whatsoever to the elephant populations. For the people that share their land with the elephants, this would provide an incentive to conserve the elephants. Elephant-human conflicts often result in the deaths of people in Namibia and other countries where the populations are healthy and destroy crops and water installations.
