#Ruud Tombrock

[thepastisalreadywritten]

BRUSSELS — Today, the Belgian Federal government’s Council of Ministers approved a legislative proposal for a ban on the import of hunting trophies of endangered animal species, put forth by Zakia Khattabi, Minister of Climate, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Green Deal.

The Minister’s preliminary draft bill follows the Federal Parliament of the Kingdom of Belgium’s unanimous vote in March 2022 in support of a resolution demanding that the government put the brakes on the issuance of trophy import permits for a broad array of threatened and endangered species.

This resolution protects species such as the hippopotamus, Southern white rhinoceros, African savannah elephant, lion, polar bear and argali sheep killed for sport.

The scope of the resolution also extends to all species listed in Annex A, along with certain species in Annex B of the European Regulation 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora.

Member of Parliament Kris Verduyckt (Vooruit, Flemish Socialists), initiator of the legislative proposal to ban hunting trophy imports in 2020 and proposer of the aforementioned resolution, said:

“I am glad that this hard work is paying off. Minister Khattabi is now fully translating my proposal into a bill and the entire Council of Ministers approves it.

It’s time we really started protecting endangered species. Trophy hunters prefer to kill the largest and strongest animals, the loss of which contributes to the disruption and decline of animal populations.”

The European office of animal protection charity Humane Society International, a long-time vocal advocate against the import of endangered species’ trophies, lauded the government’s decision.

Ruud Tombrock, executive director for HSI/Europe said:

“We welcome the fact that the unanimous resolution of Parliament has been translated into a legislative measure and look forward to studying the details of the legislation once published.

Belgium is leading the way for other countries in Europe already listening to calls from their citizens to consign the import of hunting trophies to history.

The next step should be an EU-wide ban on the import of hunting trophies from endangered and protected species, again reflecting the views of citizens across member states in the European Union.”

Over the past 16 months, HSI/Europe has worked with MPs to ensure that the unanimous resolution of Parliament was translated into legislation.

Today’s approval is the culmination of this campaign.

MPs from different political parties have maintained pressure on Environment Minister Khattabi.

A recent response to a parliamentary question from MP Jan Briers (CD&V, Flemish Christian democrats) revealed that the Ministry had only stopped issuing permits for importing animal trophies since mid-March 2023, a delay which outraged many MPs.

This landmark decision by the Belgian government echoes the strongly held views of its people.

A 2020 survey by Ipsos commissioned by HSI/Europe showed that 91% of Belgians oppose trophy hunting and 88% support a prohibition on importing any kind of hunting trophy at all.

This sentiment is not limited to Belgium but is resonating across the European continent.

A 2023 pan-European poll conducted by Savanta in all 27 EU Member States on behalf of HSI/Europe laid bare the widespread public rejection of trophy hunting.

A striking 83% of respondents stood firm against this practice, with just 6% in favor.

The vast majority is expecting strong measures to be taken against trophy hunting, with a compelling majority (74%) rallying behind a national import ban and similar support for an EU-wide ban (73%).

These survey results underscore a profound and growing public concern across Europe, spotlighting the urgency and importance of wildlife conservation and the protection of threatened species.

Today, Belgium has echoed the urgent European call to action against trophy hunting, joining the ranks of countries like the Netherlands, France and Finland, which have each implemented various degrees of bans and restrictions on the practice of import of hunting trophies.

Momentum against trophy hunting is accelerating across the continent, with nations including the UK, Germany, Italy, and Poland now also involved in active discussions to impose bans at varying stages of progress.

Facts on trophy hunting:

• The Netherlands introduced a trophy hunting ban for more than 200 species in May 2016 on the Annex A of European Regulation 338/97, on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein, and of species in danger of extinction.

The import ban also applies to the following Annex B species: white rhinoceros, hippopotamus, African elephant, mouflon (wild sheep from the Caucasus), lion and polar bear.

A total of 200 animal species are affected by the import licenses ban.

• France implemented a ban on the import of lion-hunting trophies in 2015.

In 2023, a Bill proposal for registration aimed at “stopping the issuance of import permits for hunting trophies of certain endangered species was tabled.

•The import of hunting trophies into Finland is restricted since June 2023.

The new Nature Conservation Act includes a provision that prohibits the import of individual animals or their parts from the most endangered species worldwide, which are threatened by international trade as trophies from countries outside the EU.

• In the United Kingdom in March 2023, British lawmakers approved a ban on the import of animal hunting trophies covering 6,000 endangered species, which makes it one of the toughest in the world.

The legislation is now being debated in the House of Lords.

• In Germany, the Minister of the Environment, Steffi Lemke (The Greens), announced that she intends to restrict the import of hunting trophies from protected animal species.

Germany terminated the Country’s membership in the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) in 2022.

• In Italy in 2022, a bill aimed at banning the import, export and re-export, to and from Italy, of hunting trophies obtained from animals that are protected by CITES, was presented.

After the fall of the government and the elections in 2023, the same bill was tabled again in parliament.

• In Poland, a bill sponsored by the deputy chairperson of the Sejm, the lower chamber of the parliament, reached committee stage discussion this month and is scheduled for further progress in August 2023.

• Trophy hunting of endangered species poses a severe threat to conservation efforts and the world’s natural heritage.

Trophy hunters prefer to kill the largest, strongest animals, whose loss causes declines in population.

The affected species, such as African elephants, lions, rhinoceros, and leopards, among others, are already facing the risk of extinction and play crucial roles in maintaining healthy ecosystems and biodiversity.

The loss of these iconic animals not only disrupts delicate ecological balances but also erodes cultural and historical significance.

Many species play important roles in their ecosystems. Their removal can have cascading effects on other wildlife, vegetation, and the overall health of the ecosystem.

• The EU is the second biggest importer of hunting trophies after the United States, as indicated in a report by Humane Society International/Europe from 2021, with an average of 3000 trophies imported in the period between 2014 and 2018.

• The top 10 species imported into the EU as trophies are:

Hartmann’s mountain zebra (Equus zebra hartmannae) (3.119), Chacma baboon (1.751), American black bear (Ursus americanus) (1.415), brown bear (1.056), the African elephant (952), African lion (Panthera leo) (889), African leopard (Panthera pardus) (839), hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) (794), caracal (Caracal caracal) (480), and red lechwe (Kobus leche) (415).

• The EU was the largest importer of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) trophies with 297 cheetah trophies imported into the EU during the study period.

• Belgium is the 13th largest hunting trophy importer of internationally protected species in Europe

• Shortly before the vote of the resolution last year, Animal Rights Belgium, another organisation campaigning against the import of hunting trophies in Belgium, delivered a petition with 37,000 signatures supporting the ban to the Federal Environment Minister, Zakia Khattabi.

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[wildbeimwild]

Belgien: Einfuhr von Jagdtrophäen zum Schutz von Wildtieren endlich verboten

Der vorläufige Gesetzentwurf der Ministerin folgt auf das einstimmige Votum des föderalen Parlaments des Königreichs Belgien, das im März 2022 eine Resolution verabschiedete, in der die Regierung aufgefordert wird, die Erteilung von Einfuhrgenehmigungen für Trophäen für eine Vielzahl von bedrohten und gefährdeten Tierarten unverzüglich zu stoppen. Diese Resolution schützt Arten wie das…

[avo-kat]

‘No future’: Iceland cancels whale hunt over animal welfare concerns

by Elizabeth Claire Alberts on 21 June 2023

Citing animal welfare concerns, Iceland has suspended its whale hunting season until Aug. 31.

This decision follows the release of a government-commissioned independent report that found that many whales suffer immensely after being harpooned.

Iceland had been set to kill around 200 fin whales, up from the 148 it killed in 2022.

Iceland has suspended its planned hunt for fin whales this year, citing animal welfare concerns.

On June 20, Svandís Svavarsdóttir, the country’s minister of food, agriculture and fisheries, announced that the whale hunt was postponed because “the fishing method used when hunting large whales does not comply with the law on animal welfare.”

This decision follows the release of a government-commissioned independent report that found that 41% of whales targeted in the Icelandic hunts did not die immediately, but suffered immensely after being shot with harpoons. It also found that some whales took up to two hours to die.

The hunt has been suspended until Aug. 31, but experts close to the matter say it’s unlikely it will start after the suspension lifts, since September usually marks the end of the whaling season.

“I have made the decision to temporarily stop whaling in light of the unequivocal opinion of the professional council on animal welfare,” Svavarsdóttir said in a statement in Icelandic. “The conditions of the law on animal welfare are inescapable in my mind, if the government and license holders cannot guarantee welfare requirements, this activity does not see a future.”

Only one whaling company, Hvalur, holds a license to hunt whales in Iceland, which is set to expire in 2023. Another Icelandic whaling company, IP-Utgerd, ceased operations in 2020 due to financial difficulties.

Arne Feuerhahn, founder of Hard to Port, a German organization that has worked to end the Icelandic whale hunts, says the news surprised him.

“I was standing in front of one of the whaling ships … when I received the news,” Feuerhahn, currently in Iceland, told Mongabay by phone. “It was a very, very special and emotional moment because so many people have put a lot of energy over the past few months and years to get to this outcome.”

Before receiving the news, Feuerhahn said he’d been expecting the whalers to begin hunting on June 21.

Feuerhahn, who has been working with partners to document the Icelandic whale hunts since 2015, says he previously shared video of the whale hunts with Svavarsdóttir. The government then placed observers on all whaling ships in 2022.

This year, Iceland was set to kill around 200 fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), considered vulnerable to extinction by the global conservation authority IUCN.

In 2022, Iceland killed 148 fin whales. In 2018, it killed 44 fin whales and two rare hybrids of fin and blue whales.

Iceland has been one of the very few countries, along with Japan and Norway, that has continued to hunt whales despite the International Whaling Commission enacting a global moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986.

A survey conducted by Icelandic research company Maskína found that 51% of Icelanders oppose the whale hunts, while only 29% are in favor. Most of those in favor were 60 years or older.

“This is a major milestone in compassionate whale conservation,” Ruud Tombrock, the executive director of the Humane Society International in Europe, said in a statement.

“There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea, and so we urge the minister to make this a permanent ban,” Tombrock added. “Whales already face so many serious threats in the oceans from pollution, climate change, entanglement in fish nets and ship strikes, that ending cruel commercial whaling is the only ethical conclusion.”

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Iceland cancels commercial whaling this season on animal welfare grounds, hailed as ‘a major milestone in compassionate whale conservation’ by HSI / Europe

Minister Svavarsdóttir ends decades of senseless whale killing and begins a new chapter in Iceland’s relationship with whales

Humane Society International / Europe

20 June 2023

BRUSSELS ― As news breaks that Iceland has cancelled this season’s commercial whaling on animal welfare grounds, global animal protection charity Humane Society International says it is thrilled and relieved at the announcement that will spare hundreds of whales from agonising deaths.

It urges the Icelandic government to make it a permanent ban.

Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Svandís Svavarsdóttir announced that Iceland’s whaling vessels will not kill any whales this season due to the conclusion that “the fishing method used when hunting large whales does not comply with the law on animal welfare.”

The suspension lasts until August 31st, which effectively cancels this season’s whale killing.

The minister’s statement continues:

“It is necessary to postpone the start of the whaling season so that there is room to investigate whether it is possible to ensure that the hunting is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.”

Ruud Tombrock, HSI / Europe’s executive director, said:

“This is a major milestone in compassionate whale conservation.

Humane Society International is thrilled at this news and praises Minister Svavarsdóttir for ending the senseless whale killing, which will spare hundreds of minke and imperilled fin whales from agonising and protracted deaths.

There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea and so we urge the minister to make this a permanent ban.

Whales already face so many serious threats in the oceans from pollution, climate change, entanglement in fish nets and ship strikes, that ending cruel commercial whaling is the only ethical conclusion.”

The announcement follows the Minister’s op-ed last year in which she said she saw little reason to permit whaling after 2023.

Publication last month of an independent report by the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority ― commissioned by the Minister ― revealed some whales killed in Icelandic hunts had taken up to two hours to die, with 41% of whales suffering immensely before dying for an average of 11.5 minutes.

Kitty Block, CEO of Humane Society International, said:

“For those of us who have been campaigning for many years to end commercial whaling, to see the day that Iceland decides to stop killing whales and retire its harpoons for good, is truly historic.

Economic factors have certainly played a significant role in the demise of this cruel industry - with little demand for whale meat at home and exports to the Japanese market dwindling - but it is the overriding moral argument against whaling that has sealed its fate.

Harpooning these magnificent giants not only causes unjustifiable suffering to those whales who are killed but also unimaginable distress to the rest of their pod who witness their family members being chased and slaughtered.

Iceland is already one of the best places in the world to go whale watching, and the country stands to attract even more ecotourists now that it has abandoned whaling forever.

The world now looks at Japan and Norway as the only two countries in the world to still mercilessly kill whales for profit.”

FAST FACTS:

The International Whaling Commission agreed to enact a global moratorium on all commercial whaling in 1986.

Iceland left the IWC in 1992 but returned in 2002 with an exception to the moratorium, despite objections from multiple nations. 

Since re-joining the IWC, Iceland had killed more than 1,500 whales, including fin whales.

Iceland suspended hunting fin whales in 2016 due to a declining market for whale meat in Japan.

Hunting resumed for the 2018 season when 146 fin whales were killed, including a pregnant female and a rare fin-blue hybrid whale, plus six minke whales.

A single minke whale was killed from 2019-2021, and 148 fin whales in 2022.

Fin whales are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as globally vulnerable to extinction despite decades of recovery since the commercial whaling moratorium.

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