In a press release from the Intergroup "Biodiversity, Hunting, Countryside", the European Member of Parliament Karl-Heinz Florenz, President of the Intergroup, reports that over 80% of MEPs have rejected a ban on the importation of hunting trophies.
PRESS RELEASE EXCERPT
On 18 January a group of MEPs launched a written declaration calling for the examination on the possibility to restrict all trophy imports into the EU. These MEPs have since been lobbying their colleagues and a number of events have been held in the Parliament to obtain support for the declaration and to make it the official opinion of the Parliament.
On 18 April (The deadline for signing the declaration), it was not only clear that the proponents had failed to obtain the required support of a majority of MEPs to have it published in the Parliament’s minutes, but also that an overwhelming majority of MEPs – over 80 % - rejected to support the declaration. The FACE Director of Legal and Public Affairs, Johan SVALBY welcomes the outcome and clear message from MEPs:
“When trophy hunting is conducted in a sustainable manner, it positively contributes to the conservation of wild populations and their habitats and also benefits society. In the midst of a poaching crisis, removing the important incentives and revenue provided by legal trophy hunting would constitute a detrimental blow to conservation and cause serious declines of populations of a number of threatened or iconic species, particularly on the African continent. The EU now needs to focus its attention on how to best make use of trophy hunting to provide economic incentives to conserve wildlife and to effectively counter wildlife crime. Hunters and other conservationists owe a big thanks to MEPs who have not signed the written declaration.”
