Importance of shooting for Europe's rural regions
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- See Doc. 5745, report of the Committee on Agriculture. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 1 July 1987.
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Recognising that, while in parts of Europe the shooting of game enjoys overall public support, in others attitudes are becoming increasingly critical, even to the point of favouring a complete ban on this activity ;
2. Realising that this development may be due, not only to the efficiency of various ‘‘anti-shooting'' campaigns and the emotional connotations of killing animals, but also to unnecessary cruelty sometimes caused by people who go shooting with insufficient experience ;
3. Concerned that the habitats, and thus the existence, of many animal species are threatened by pollution and intensive agriculture, as well as by industrial, urban and recreational expansion, leading, for instance, to the redirection or underground channelling of certain waterways ;
4. Aware that certain characteristics of modern farming are also detrimental to wildlife in all its variety - for instance monoculture, the intensive use of pesticides and the elimination of woods, hedgerows and other shelters ;
5. Convinced that shooting for conservation purposes, apart from being of considerable economic importance to many rural regions and to the general economy, can also make an essential contribution to the protection of the environment by maintaining a proper balance between species and by preventing over-population of certain species, leading to starvation, diseases and damage to the vegetation in sensitive areas,
6. Calls on the governments of member states :
a to work in favour of better trained and better informed sportsmen, notably along the lines suggested in Recommendation No. R (85) 17 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the training of hunters ;
b to orient their agricultural policies - at a time when European agriculture is plagued by over-production and financial difficulties - so as to allow more wildlife to dwell in farming areas, by creating hedgerows, ponds and shelterwood among fields - thus providing farmers in some regions with additional income from shooting rents and tourism ;
c to promote dialogue among those who go shooting, farmers, foresters, holiday-makers and environmentalists, so that each group realises the benefits to be had from the closest possible co-operation ;
d to contribute as far as possible to a greater understanding among the general public of the essential role of shooting in preserving the environment and in furthering the economic development of rural regions.
