Europe initiative aims to link hunting and conservation

In response to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, FACE, the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation, has launched its new Biodiversity Manifesto, which is Europe’s first evidence-based platform showing how Europe’s hunters conserve biodiversity.

The platform – which is hosted on BiodiversityManifesto.com – offers a new, user-friendly platform with information on hunting-related conservation initiatives throughout Europe.

The substantial and growing database of over 470 hunting-related conservation projects shows the importance of hunters’ efforts within and outside protected areas, on a variety of different habitat types and species.

The link between hunting and conservation is widely recognised. However, there has not been any European-wide project to demonstrate the conservation efforts undertaken by over 7,000,000 hunters.

FACE and its Member associations in 37 European countries will use the Biodiversity Manifesto in dialogue with EU Institutions, stakeholders, media and the public to highlight the positive role of hunters in biodiversity conservation.

FACE President, Torbjörn Larsson stated: “Thanks to the priceless efforts of so many hunters, we now have strong evidence to show in practice how hunters are successfully implementing the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and make a crucial contribution to habitat restoration, protected areas, species monitoring and much more. The next FACE General Assembly is planned for 24-25 September in the international framework of the One With Nature Expo in Budapest, which will give us a great opportunity to further promote the Biodiversity Manifesto and gather even more projects from all FACE Members,”

FACE’s Biodiversity Manifesto is the ultimate source of information about hunting and conservation in Europe. If you know or are involved in a project related to conservation that includes hunters, we strongly encourage you to share it via the website questionnaire that you find on www.biodiversitymanifesto.com.

Statistics

470+

Hunting related conservation projects gathered until now

45%

Of all projects are focused on farmland habitats

25%

Of all projects are taking place on “Natura 2000” sites

A Case Study

Restoring Habitat for Turtle Dove in France

The Vendéen 20-year strong habitat restoration project.

Changes in farming have driven the decline of this species in Europe, and targeted conservation action by Member States is needed. Farmers and landowners need to be properly incentivised to create suitable habitat for the species. Where such measures are available, hunters are (and will be) key to conserving habitat and promoting farmer up-take in conservation efforts.

In 20 years, 452,000 trees and shrubs, funded by the Federation of Hunters, were planted on 564 sites (342 ha of afforestation and 72.1 km of hedges).

The hunting community is passionate about the conservation of the Turtle Dove and has been actively involved in its conservation since many years. The European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) has carefully selected this project to highlight the important conservation efforts put in place by the hunting community for the Turtle Dove.

Rich natural environments and the biodiversity that depends on them are essential elements for Europe’s hunters. In recent decades, rural landscapes and natural environments have deteriorated due to land use changes. Hunters are often the first to be affected by this deterioration.

In the region of Vendée along the west coast of France, hunters have started to combat the deterioration of their natural forests and shrubbery. For 20 years they have planted new vegetation yearly. These restoration operations began after a large cyclone in 1999 that devastated the area.

 

 

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