NATSHOOT AND CONSERVATION
NHSA Position on Rhino, Elephant & Lion Conservation
Population Stability and Endangered Status of Large Mammals in Africa
The more important elements of this position are:
- Our actions and activities are principally focussed on the indigenous wildlife of South Africa;
- Our position on conservation is in line with the international prescripts of IUCN and of UNEDP;
- We subscribe to sustainable utilization of nature`s renewable natural resources;
- We acknowledge a common responsibility for the conservation of our natural heritage;
- We understand that all must be advantaged through the sustainable use of our renewable natural resources;
- We understand The Hunt as a sustainable utilization practice, with special reference to the conservation of species;
- We understand that conservation is focused on the conservation of species rather on the individual animal of a species;
- We understand that conservation cannot only be focussed on rare and endangered species but on biodiversity conservation, which must concern all species, despite it`s seeming minute size and unimportance.
The contribution of hunters to conservation in South Africa is calculated in the billions of Rand annually. Get these facts in this pocket guide and use them in conversations with friends or others who are still unsure that hunting is in effect conservation and as such, thus absolutely advantages conservation.
Also download a similar pocket guide composed by NSSF (USA), which explains the exact same situation in the USA. It is irrefutable proof that hunters, internationally, make a massive contribution to the conservation of species which would have otherwise been destroyed due to the competition they represent to the farming of domesticated species (as was indeed the case in the USA, Europe, and South Africa up to approximately 1950).
Use all of these facts in stating your position on the hunt and on hunters` contribution to conservation.
Do not stand back in arguments - our activities are responsible, proven to be sustainable, focussed on conservation, and universally legal. To be the hunter is part of a universal human heritage, which is clearly visible in the cultural heritage each of us are part of. It is also irrefutably part of our genetic makeup as Hominidae - as that part of our genetic human composition has for thousands of years, from generation to generation, been inherited from our forefathers.
You may also want to do some further reading on the topic:
Why sustainable use (hunting) makes a larger contribution to conservation than pure eco-tourism (the truth !!)
Hunting is Conservation - take time to read this
The History of Wildlife Ranching in South Africa (Jane Carruthers, 26-09-2008) - good read and background
Also, go to the NHSA News Page where current topics on Conservation are highlighted
