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- The Hunting Trophies Bill seeks to ban trophy imports from Africa.
- African conservationists accuse UK legislators of double standards and of creating a donor dependency syndrome in Africa.
- Former Botswana president Ian Khama is one of the leading voices supporting a trophy-hunting ban in Africa.
Wildlife conservationists say the United Kingdom's Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill will negatively affect trophy hunting in Africa as well as environmental and animal conservation.
The Bill will be debated in the House of Lords on 16 June after Conservative legislator Henry Smith introduced it and received support from the government in March.
If passed into law, it will effectively put a historic ban on trophy hunting imports into the UK.
The Bill seeks to protect animals listed by the internationally agreed Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
READ | South African taxidermists fret at UK hunting trophy ban
But scientists, African conservationists, and community leaders have published a report ahead of the debate, detailing the negative impacts of the Bill.
They say it will "undermine critical revenue for conservation and African communities in its current form".
The report, titled: "The risks to conservation, rights, and livelihoods," states that African communities accuse the UK government of hypocrisy and neo-colonialism, given that the UK exports thousands of hunting trophies itself every year from deer stalking but has no plans to abolish the practice domestically. Deer stalking is the licensed tracking of deer on foot to hunt for meat, leisure, or trophies.
It costs about R2 390 (£100) per stalk and R8 300 (£350) for mature non-medal bucks, including the carcass.
They also argue that the UK is "one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world," partly because of its red deer exports from Scotland.
The report calls for an amendment to exempt imports with a proven benefit to conservation and communities in Africa.
It argues that trophy hunting has proven conservation advantages for a variety of hunted species, including threatened species, by lowering far greater dangers, such as habitat loss and poaching.
By undermining the viability of the hunting industry through an import ban, governments, landowners, and local communities are less likely to: keep land as wildlife habitats rather than convert it for uses such as agriculture, invest in anti-poaching activities, and tolerate dangerous wildlife.
The report states:
Conservationists also say the Bill was poorly thought out.
"The parliamentary debate surrounding the Bill has been driven by extensive misinformation from animal rights activists, backed up by celebrities.
"In the second reading, for example, over 70% of MPs' statements were found to be false or misleading. The debate has ignored conservation expertise —even that provided by the UK government's own scientific advisory body," they say.
The UK government has proposed that African communities apply for UK aid funding to compensate for the money lost as a result of a prohibition on trophy-hunting imports.
However, for conservationists, it creates another story of aid dependency instead of self-sustainability.
"We take exception to this position (aid proposal) that is tantamount to subjecting those likely to be adversely affected by the Bill to a beggar-like dependency on external support for their livelihood, says Dr Chris Brown", the chief executive officer of the Namibian Chamber for the Environment.
READ | About 68% of South Africans oppose trophy hunting - survey
He adds: "Many countries, particularly former colonies, are becoming increasingly sensitive to attempts by Western industrialised countries to dictate how they use and manage their natural resources, especially when wildlife numbers are stable and increasing. Such paternalistic, arrogant, and misinformed approaches will only encourage our countries to look eastward to grow alliances and markets for our natural resources."
Countries such as Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are openly against the Bill.
However, one of its leading supporters in Africa is former Botswana president Ian Khama, who banned trophy hunting when he was in office in 2014.
During a UK visit early this year, he was quoted as saying the proposed law would "halt the reckless, cruel destruction of the world's wonderful wildlife by nature's enemies".
Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has overturned Khama's ban and has disbanded anti-poaching units.
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The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
