I am aware that serious concerns have been raised about trophy hunting imports. I am pleased that the UK Government is committed to international action to help conserve the world’s wildlife.
The international wildlife trade is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which takes the approach of ensuring that the trade is conducted legally and sustainably, rather than attempting to end it altogether. Like the UK Government, I concur with this approach – properly managed, legal and sustainable trophy hunting helps fund species conservation efforts.
The UK Government has worked within this approach to enhance protections, and at the Convention’s most recent conference, the UK played a key role in developing a proposal for improved global rules on hunting and trade. The resulting tightening of controls are a very positive step towards ensuring sustainability.
The UK is also working hard to curb the illegal wildlife trade, and will host an international conference on the issue in October, building on advances made at three previous conferences. The UK Government has also set up the £13 million Illegal Wildlife Challenge Fund to support projects in the developing world.
With respect to exports, import controls are currently managed at an EU level. While stricter controls on the import of some species subject to hunting were introduced in 2015, after we leave the EU we will be able to manage our own import controls and consider implementing even tougher restrictions.
In the meantime, the UK Government is currently taking steps to ban the sale of ivory in this country, a measure that will help address the alarming decline in the world’s African elephant population.