Few other topics are discussed more controversially among conservationists then trophy hunting and hunting tourism and their contribution to conservation. Within the last decade, experts of wildlife and tourism sciences acknowledged that hunting tourism could offer a number of outstanding monetary and ecological benefits to rural areas.

 

In many regions of the world there are simply no sufficient economic alternatives in place to ordinary forms of land use like agriculture, forestry or fisheries. Hunting tourism could indeed present an economically viable form of land use and a practical tool for the sustainable use of a natural resource, at the same time preserving the environment. “Use it or loose it” stands for a notable approach to sustainable use and wildlife conservation – yet, it is not very popular among the critical hunting opposition!

 

In what way do we need to manage hunting tourism so that it will serve as tool for sustainable development? In the context of international and national provisions and legal requirements for sustainable use, hunting tourism needs to meet suitable criteria, as is the case for any other form of land use today. However, those criteria do not exist yet.

 

The CIC has realised this problem and will support the development of such criteria through its Programme Sustainable Hunting Tourism. Nevertheless, development and successful implementation won’t be achieved overnight. Much work is to be done – but the future of sustainable hunting and wildlife conservation is worth the effort!

• How do we have to understand Hunting Tourism?
• What do we have to know about the market of Hunting tourism?
• Does hunting tourism meet the criteria for sustainability?
• How can we make hunting tourism more sustainable?
• Background documents
• Links

Best Practices in Sustainable Hunting A Guide to Best Practices From Around the World CIC Technical Series Publication No. 1 2008         Неистощительная охота: лучшие примеры устойчивого использования охотничьих животных Серия технических публикаций CIC No. 1 2009