Africa Wild

Business Day Live Hunting, game farming ‘play key role’ in economic development

Hunting, game farming ‘play key role’ in economic development
BY KHULEKANI MAGUBANE, 29 OKTOBER 2012, 17:38

HUNTING and wildlife tourism have great potential to create jobs and attract investment to South Africa’s rural areas, but transformation in the industry needs to be accelerated, said Water Affairs Minister Edna Molewa on Monday at the Hunting Indaba in Sun City.

The industry contributes more than R6bn to South Africa’s gross domestic product and had 140,000 employees in 2010.

Ms Molewa said game hunting was important to communities and the economy.

"Although the government and industry will sometimes not agree on other matters, I am a firm believer that the hunting industry and game-farming industry are important partners that play a key role in conservation, tourism and economic development," she said.

The minister said South Africa had played a positive role in conservation through hunting, as recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Ms Molewa said recognition by the IUCN was due to the positive effect that sport hunting had had on South Africa’s population of white rhinos.

Also at the indaba, United Democratic Front leader Bantu Holomisa said the economic gap between rich and poor in the area of the Kruger National Park needed to be addressed.

Mr Holomisa said black communities were lagging with regard to awareness of environmental issues and conservation.

The Limpopo MEC for economic development, environment and tourism, Pinky Kekana, said hunting was not only about conservation, but was also part of sustainable development.

"There is a disjuncture between the views of state, regulation, industry and communities. Communities do not see industry gains as amounting to their benefit," Ms Kekana said.

The director of the Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies at North-West University, Prof Melville Saayman, said transformation in wildlife tourism needed attention, especially in jobs such as taxidermy.

He said the industry also created potential jobs in other areas such as transport, accommodation, marketing and tourism.

Media Release DEA

Minister Edna Molewa addresses the First Hunting Indaba
The Palace at Sun City, North West province, 29 October 2012


The Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Ms Edna Molewa officially opened the first Hunting Indaba at The Palace at Sun City, North West province today, 29 October 2012.

The Hunting Indaba is the first such dialogue between the Department of Environmental Affairs and the hunting community of South Africa and will create a platform for dialogue regarding hunting and its role and contribution to conservation, transformation and economic growth. Hunting is a popular sport in South Africa and, as stated by the Minister during her opening address, the Indaba is an “important event that will bolster the contribution of the hunting sector to the conservation successes and the economic growth of the wildlife sector in South Africa.”

The Indaba will be used as an opportunity to engage with the hunting industry and other government entities to create a platform for discussions, and it will hopefully lead to the strategic interventions required to strengthen the contribution of the sector to conservation, transformation and economic growth. It is anticipated that through these engagements, government and the industry will unpack issues such as strengthening the contribution to conservation, provision of incentives, assistance to small business enterprises, transformation of the hunting industry, involvement of communities in hunting, and mechanisms and interventions required to develop the full potential of the hunting industry and maximise benefits arising from this industry.

The Hunting Indaba will focus on four key thematic areas, namely ecological and economic impact / contribution of the sector; involvement of communities in hunting and transformation; hunting in protected areas and buffer zones; and legislative challenges. In terms of each thematic area, the Indaba will discuss the successes, the challenges, areas that require interventions to ensure sustainability and to reduce potential negative impacts, and opportunities that can be explored to strengthen the contribution of the sector.

The hunting industry makes an important contribution to the economy, with local and trophy hunters contributing nearly R1 billion to the national economy during 2010. These contributions are based on only a small portion of the activities in the sector and the overall contribution is, therefore, considerably higher. This economic contribution is linked to contributions to the conservation of species, with the game farming industry in South Africa contributing to increased numbers of scarce game species on private land. During her address, the Minister noted this contribution, highlighting that the hunting industry also contributes significantly to “tourism development, job creation and sustainable development, especially in rural areas.”

The Indaba will also consider the potential impact of hunting on biodiversity, noting that it could have a profound effect on the landscape and its biodiversity. While excessive and unregulated hunting may lead to a loss of game, a change in land use and corresponding loss of habitat and biodiversity; well managed systems with sustainable off-take levels can contribute to the conservation of species and landscapes. Where areas are managed for intensive utilisation through hunting, practices such as restocking game populations, introducing new, alien species for hunting, or artificially increasing natural densities of game through fencing or food provision may also have a potentially large impact on landscapes, habitats and species. These practices, therefore, require management interventions to ensure long term sustainability. The Indaba will enable participants to share information, best practices and ideas on how the sustainability of the sector and the associated conservation of species can be secured.

The government of South Africa supports and promotes ethical and responsible hunting that is conducted in an ecologically sustainable manner that contributes to conservation of species and the ecosystems in which they occur. This pledge by government was echoed by Minister Molewa, who stated: “I am committed to strengthening and improving the relationship between my Department and this sector.”

To access the Minister Edna Molewa’s speech during the official opening of the First Hunting Indaba , click the link below:
>> http://www.environment.gov.za/?q=conten ... tingindaba

For media queries, please contact:

Albi Modise on 083 490 2871

The Hunting Indaba will focus on hunting in protected areas and buffer zones

Toko wrote:The Hunting Indaba will focus on hunting in protected areas and buffer zones

That also stands out for me Toko What is meant by this

Strange that the Hon Minister attends a bloody hunting Indaba but not the talks on rhino poaching!!!!! Eish - as the stomach turns!

As strange as it may seem, there are a few (and I emphasise the word few) ethical hunters out there. There are those that wouln't even consider hunting in an enclosure and certainly not go after a rhino under the current crcumstances. As in all things you get the good and the bad and the croud that are envolved in this particular event are obviously without any ethics what so ever and should be hunted down and exposed for what they are.

Here comes the "sheep"!!!!!

Anti-poaching methods will never succeed when the goverment encourages hunting "Farms".

PS - There are a lot of ethical hunters out there, but I think Bots are on the right track!

2012-12-02 14:12

Johannesburg - South Africa's hunting industry has set its sights on growing its already booming business and on casting off its negative image.

The country's abundant wildlife, already a top tourist attraction, also draws thousands of marksmen in search of trophies for the wall or meat for the pot.

Hunters are thought to have spent about R6.2bn in 2010 - the last known figure - and provided employment to 140 000 people in a country where one in four people are jobless.

But the industry has an obvious image problem. It struggles to convince the public that shooting individual animals does not threaten species.

"If you look at the image of hunting, a lot, lot could be done to ... educate the urban public to the reality of hunting," said Stephen Palos, chairperson Confederation of Hunters Associations of South Africa.

According to Palos these "misconceptions" are pedalled by "fringe elements, animal rightist elements."

He said "animal rightists play on emotion" and by hurting the hunting industry they reduce the funds that go to conservation.

But there is no doubt hunting is big business. Big trophies draw big bucks.

It costs an average of $22 000 to shoot an adult male lion.

Packages

Around 500 are killed annually, including a few lionesses which cost $4 000.

Outfitters also offer packages with various combinations of animals over several days.

Local hunters are largely interested in hunting for meat, especially antelope for the local dried meat delicacy biltong.

Thousands of foreigners also come in search of white rhino, buffalo and large antelope such as kudu and oryx.

In 2010, 5 673 foreigners came mostly from the United States, Denmark, Sweden and Norway and shot nearly 32 000 animals at a cost of R600m.

"This figure is underestimated, the amount should be much higher," said Melville Saayman, a researcher at the North-West University.

"I think we need to position our country as a hunting destination much stronger than we do."

Eco-tourism

South Africa has more than 10 000 commercial wildlife reserves which stretch over 17% of the land and have an annual turnover of eight billion rand.

Of this figure, 75% comes from hunting and the rest of activities like eco-tourism and auctions.

"The (wildlife) industry measured in terms of turnover grew an average rate of 20.3 per annum in the last 15 years," said Gert Dry, president of Wildlife Ranching South Africa.

The government is fully aware of the benefits that hunting offers.

"The hunting industry contributes substantially to the economy of the country," Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa told a recent conference, calling for more blacks to enter the white-dominated business.

Job creation

"Government recognises that game farming and hunting contributes significantly to conservation, tourism development, job creation and sustainable development, especially in rural areas, and is part of the broader biodiversity economy."

Yet emotions in South Africa are currently running high, thanks to a rhino poaching crisis.

Rhino poaching has reached record highs, with 588 of the animals killed already this year.

A recent "canned lion hunting" scandal also fired up anti-hunting sentiment.

Then, marksmen were filmed gunning down the captive bred top predators in small areas, which Saayman said was "unethical" and had given hunting bad publicity.

Anti-poaching advocates admit hunting is a thorny issue.

At best hunting could be done within a well managed system and the proceeds could be used to fund conservation.

But the rate of illegal hunting of some species is such that populations may be under threat.

- SAPA

All well and good, but before the hunters association gets my vote, they have to weed out the dogs from their midst. In addition I would expect them to voluntarily ban their members from hunting any rhino species.