Trophy hunting bill misses its target
Conor O'Gorman
Henry Smith MP’s Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill can only work if it’s revised to target unsustainable practices over those that conserve our most threatened species, says Conor O’Gorman.
Today, 17 March, the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill passed the through the House of Commons and now moves to the House of Lords.
Whilst amendments to the Bill agreed today are welcome and a move in the right direction, BASC remains vehemently opposed to the Bill, which seeks a ban on the import of products (including heads, skins, leather, fur and feathers) from species hunted overseas ‘to protect populations of endangered species’.
This is a fundamentally flawed and superfluous objective given that imports (and exports) are already regulated under existing rules designed to ensure that international trade in animals and plants does not threaten their survival in the wild.
Moreover, where permits are given to import hunting trophies into the UK it is precisely because they have been certified as having been harvested sustainably.
Regular claims in the media about saving populations of lions, elephants and polar bears from British trophy hunters are also incorrect. From 2016-2020 there were 28 imports of products from African lion, 24 imports from African elephant, and nine imports from polar bear. Furthermore, the government admitted that many of these relatively small numbers of imports were not even hunting-related.
Repeated claims by Defra ministers that an import ban will save thousands of species are incorrect. In 2020 there were 12 imports of hunting trophies to the UK.
The grossly exaggerated figures of endangered species to be protected are because the Bill will put in scope thousands of plants and insects and other non-huntable species by adopting Annexes in current EU trade regulations.
Why not just come up with a list of species and their country of residence where trophy hunting is having a negative impact? Initially that might be a nil to negligible list but it would be a smart ban that could be built on if harmful unsustainable practices are detected in the future?
Media misinformation is a threat to conservation
Those campaigning for a ban on trophy hunting say that hunting is contributing to the decline in populations of rhinos, elephants, leopards, lions and many other iconic species in Africa.
That is simply not true. The ban advocates have no evidence to back up these claims, but misinformation in the media is unfortunately hoodwinking many well-meaning politicians, celebrities and members of the public to their cause.
In a review of the threats posed to conservation by media misinformation, the false narrative is described as: “Well-loved animals are on the brink of extinction, people pay to kill them, this is horrible, and if we stop it we will save species”.
The message is that stopping trophy hunting would have immediate positive effects for conservation when the opposite is the case with very few exceptions; and as misinformed calls for an import ban cross over into legislative proposals we are witness to the erosion of the Nolan principles of integrity, objectivity, openness and honesty. See here, here and here for updates on the bizarre policy developments so far.
What lies ahead
The political journey on this topic began with the Conservative manifesto pledge to ‘ban imports from trophy hunting of endangered animals’ which was amongst several left-field commitments touted by Boris Johnson’s advisors as a green agenda vote winner, in the bullish environment of the 2019 general election.
Fast forward to 2023 and Henry Smith’s Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill is knocking at the door of Rishi Sunak’s government. And there are already parallels being drawn with Tony Blair’s infamous Hunting Act.
Rather than giving the Bill any more Parliamentary time, the government could further their support of the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, a grant scheme that provides support to projects around the world that are tackling the illegal wildlife trade and the devastating consequences of poaching.
Now that would be a real win for rural communities and endangered species worldwide.
To read BASC’s statement in response to the passing of the Bill by the House of Commons, click here.
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