Figure 1

Sustainable Use for Wildlife Conservation (SUWC)

Enhancing wildlife biodiversity, community economic return and food security
— through science-led, community based, sustainable harvesting of wildlife resources.

Our social and economic success is limited to the health of the environment.

For example, if we catch all the fish and kill all the animals, then only so many people can be fed, and in-turn so much money can be made before we exhaust our resources.

Conversely, if we invest millions into environmental / wildlife preservation with no promise of economic return, that is neither viable, nor sustainable.

When the social, environmental and economical needs are in balance...sustainability is achieved!

References:

1 Adapted from Brundtland Report 1987

References

Sustainable Use for Wildlife Conservation

The sustainable use of wildlife, is the management of species to sustain their population and habitat over time, taking into account the social-economic needs of human populations - the term “wildlife” refers to “terrestrial or semi-terrestrial vertebrates”. This requires that all land-users within the wildlife habitat are aware of, and consider the effects of their activities on the wildlife resources and habitat, and on other user groups.

In view of its social, environmental and economical value, wildlife is an important renewable natural resource, with significance for areas such as rural development, land-use planning, food supply, tourism, scientific research and cultural heritage. If sustainably managed, wildlife can provide continuous nutrition and income and contribute considerably to the alleviation of poverty as well as to safeguarding human and environmental health.

Hunting and shooting are widespread but highly diverse activities with many functions and in order to understand its impact we need to consider the social-cultural, economic and ecological role it plays; in other words, it is necessary to consider the role of hunting and shooting in society if policies for conservation are to be effective.

The impact of hunting and shooting depends on the social and legal context...i.e. the factors that motivate and regulate hunting.

The potential beneficial impacts of well-managed hunting and shooting have been well documented, with hunting and shooting goals very similar to those of conservation goals, and therefore, best practice in hunting and shooting can bring about positive results in an ecosystem.

These findings from research projects can therefore be used to structure debate and provide a common platform of objective opinion and shared knowledge on which relevant and pertinent wildlife conservation decisions can be made.

The Principles of Sustainable Utilisation: Sustainable Solutions Figure 1

A ‘Sustainable Solution’ can be defined as; 'a solution that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.' 1

Sustainable solutions can be created and developed from the three dimensions of sustainability:

> Social (People, Culture and Community)

> Environmental (Wildlife and Habitat Biodiversity)

> Economical (Trading Production/Services Value and Wealth)

When all three pillars are resilient and robust, people live in a system where a high-quality of life is the norm. They have access to a clean and healthy environment, a satisfactory level of economic well-being, and a strong level of social fulfilment. Out of these three pillars, environmental sustainability is most important because the other two pillars, economic and social, are reliant on upon the environment to a greater extent.

Evidence-based, ethical hunting and shooting game harvesting cull plans, can create sustainable wildlife solutions - Figure 1.

Social (People, Culture and Community)

The local community economic return and wider society benefits:

natural no-cost healthy protein food source;
local employment opportunities;
environment protection from wildlife habitat management;
goods and products sourced from animal harvest, i.e. skin/leather, fur/feather, bone, teeth, sinew...;
local cultural and tribal hunting traditions upholding humanity's first and most successful adaptation, hunting and gathering.

Environmental (Wildlife and Habitat Biodiversity)

The local habitat and ecosystem are persevered and enhanced through:

the need to create and protect a sustainable harvestable game population;
reducing legal poaching by realising that a harvestable game population is worth more in a sustainable management programme;
thriving non-game wildlife populations as a direct and indirect result of game habitat preservation;
indigenous game species doing far less native habitat damage, and producing significantly less CO2 emissions than domestic cattle livestock;
continual research data collection and monitoring projects.

Economical (Trading Production/Services Value and Wealth)

The local economy generates income revenue from:

harvested game meat;
fees from game meat harvesting hunting/shooting activities, i.e. Game Fees, Conservation Fees, Hunting Area Fees and Community Fees;
direct employment from hunting/shooting activities;
goods/products sourced from harvested game, i.e. skin/leather, fur/feather, bone, teeth, sinew...;
potential game viewing tourism.

Robin Hurt Wildlife Foundation

Robin Hurt delivers his considered opinion...

"What I have learnt is this: if people living in the bush, neighbouring wildlife, don’t receive financial benefit from this resource, they won’t keep it. There are many ways to achieve sustainable use and longevity of species. Safari hunting is one of the best. It has been shown that countries that do not allow hunting have simply closed the door to legitimate use only to have it replaced by illegal use through poaching [Kenya...]. Legal hunters don’t like poachers – their livelihood depends on healthy, thriving wildlife populations. The presence of safari hunters in the bush helps discourage poaching."

SUSTAINABLE USE for WILDLIFE CONSERVATION