Author: FACE

This wetland restoration project takes place on a hunter’s 30 ha landholding in Flanders (Belgium). The site forms part of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) under Natura 2000 and the objective is it to restore an Annex I habitat; an alluvial forest with Alder (Alnus glutinosa) and Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). Between 2012 and 2013, with the financial support of Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos (Agency for Nature and Forest) and Natura 2000 subsidies combined with hunters’ assistance in the field,...

14 December, 2016 /

On the 7 December 2016, EU Commissioners confirmed the next steps of the Fitness Check of the Birds and Habitats Directives. Thus far, the extensive consultation process has pointed to the need for better implementation, increased funding for nature conservation, and fully addressing the drivers of biodiversity loss in the wider countryside. On the basis of today’s debate, the European Commission will develop an implementation Action Plan to improve implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives. This Action Plan will likely contain...

07 December, 2016 /

Between 15-18th of November 2016, FACE attended the 36th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention in Strasbourg. This year, the focus of the meeting was on the outcomes of the 2016 meetings and activities, in particular, the issue of bird conservation, the fight against invasive alien species, the relationship between biodiversity and climate change, and the management of protected areas. Regarding the North American Mink, the Bern Convention now recommends that Contracting Parties: “Carry out national campaigns aimed to...

23 November, 2016 /

FACE is currently attending the 36th meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention, which runs from the 15th to the 18th November 2016. The Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (or Bern Convention) is the first international agreement dedicated to nature conservation, covering most of Europe and some African countries (50 states in total). Government representatives and organisations meet once a year at the Standing Committee meeting in Strasbourg to talk about environment concerns and...

17 November, 2016 /

The European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE), the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC), and the European Landowners Organisation (ELO) condemn the recent decision of the Environmental Minister of Romania to unilaterally suspend evidence-based management of large carnivores. Large carnivores represent one of Europe’s greatest conservation challenges. However, the Carpathian Mountains boast one of the largest and densest large carnivore populations in the western world—including Europe and North America. This widely acclaimed conservation success story demonstrates that decisions...

18 October, 2016 /

The Hunters’ Federation of San Marino has become the 36 Full Member of FACE, the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation, the largest democratically representative body for hunters in the world and one of the largest European civil society organisations. The 50th General Assembly of FACE has unanimously welcomed San Marino as new Full member. With 2.000 hunters and a population of 33.000 San Marino has the highest density of hunters in Europe with 6% of its citizens holding...

16 October, 2016 /

The document “Hunting & Conservation of Wild Birds in the EU” is a guidance document for European and national policy makers on the implementation and interpretation of the Birds Directive in relation to hunting. This “White Paper” was developed by the European Association for Regional Hunting Traditions (AECT) in close cooperation with FACE who adopted it on 28 September 2016. It assesses of the impact of the Birds Directive on sustainable bird hunting practices in Europe, and in particular on the...

05 October, 2016 /

The publication, which covers June 2014 – October 2015, outlines the background and key activities of FACE’s working areas: nature conservation, wildlife conservation, International agreements, animal welfare & health, firearms & ammunition, and hunting methods & culture. One of the most testing challenges that the FACE Annual Report 2015 refers to is the Fitness Check of the Nature Directives, a process carried out by the European Commission aimed at assessing whether or not the Birds and Habitats Directives are fit for...

30 September, 2016 /

In addition to the direct economic contribution (16 Billion Euros), hunters’ voluntary work to protect and manage species and habitats also contributes to the development of Europe’s rural areas by providing employment, increasing the social fabric of rural communities, and transmitting cultural identity and traditions. During the conference “The Economic Value of Hunting in the EU” held on 27th September 2016 at the European Parliament, FACE explained that hunting is worth 16 billion Euros for the European economy. Europe’s 7 million...

29 September, 2016 /

This manual, which is now available on the FAO website, provides both technical and operational guidance on approaches and practices adopted by countries where regulated or sport hunting is conducted. The aim is to join forces to sustainably manage wildlife, notably by deriving benefits from wildlife to support rural livelihoods, and contribute to food security and national/local economies The social and economic benefits derived from sustainable use, including revenues from trophy hunting, provides sustainable incentives for local people to conserve wildlife....

20 September, 2016 /

For the past six months, FACE and its Members worked tirelessly on an IUCN motion, which was originally designed to ban all lead ammunition over all habitats, including for Olympic clay shooting disciplines. Last week, the motion was put to the floor of the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Hawaii (1-10 September 2016). Prior to the vote at the IUCN WCC, there were three intense meetings with a range of IUCN State, Government and NGO Members. The FACE position was to keep...

15 September, 2016 /

The conference, organized by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz, President of the Hunting Intergroup and MEP Renata Briano, Vice-President, in cooperation with FACE, will take place on 27th September at the European Parliament. Jyrki Katainen, Vice President of the European Commission, will participate with a keynote. Hunting is a popular activity throughout Europe and plays an important conservation, economic and cultural role within society. During this European Parliament Intergroup “Biodiversity, Hunting, Countryside” Conference, we will explore the various economic dimensions of hunting in...

08 September, 2016 /

FACE is putting a special focus on women hunters to learn more about their motivations, challenges and views. Here’s a snapshot from Esperanza Vielva in Spain. Esperanza Vielva, 26, discovered hunting only six years ago, in 2010. She has since become passionate about hunting dogs and everything else related to hunting. She states: “Since my first contact with hunting, I must say that I got hooked because of the nerves and the emotion of the activity”. Esperanza studied Law in Madrid but...

26 August, 2016 /

There are many alien (non-native) species in Europe, which can be very useful (such as the beloved potato), however, 10-15% of these alien species are considered “invasive”. Invasive Alien Species (IAS) are often referred to as species of non-native animals or plants, which generate serious negative effects on the environment, economy or even human health. For many decades, much attention has been paid to this problem at EU level with the publication of strategies, codes of conduct and new Regulations to...

17 August, 2016 /

Wetlands provide countless benefits or “ecosystem services”, which range from supplying freshwater, food and biodiversity, to flood control, groundwater recharge, and climate change mitigation. Throughout Europe, wetlands continue to decline in area and quantity despite numerous policy and legal targets to halt their decline[1]. The main causes of wetland loss include land use change to forestry and agriculture, urbanisation, invasive alien species and climate change. Hunting and wetland conservation Of the 208 projects currently listed in the FACE Biodiversity Manifesto, 90 are active...

05 August, 2016 /

At the meeting, Government representatives and a range of other stakeholders worked on developing a comprehensive programme of work for the Task Force until 2020. The MIKT adopts a zero tolerance approach to illegal killing, trapping and trade of migratory birds (IKB). For this to be successful, it requires the full and proactive support at national level of all stakeholders. FACE has a long-standing zero tolerance policy on wildlife crime including illegal killing, as it is simply not hunting. Dr. David...

18 July, 2016 /

The vote of the IMCO Committee took into account the concerns brought forward by FACE and considerably improved the proposal of the European Commission giving a clear mandate to the European Parliament in the upcoming negotiations with the Commission and the Council. The European Parliament - IMCO Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection - voted today on the revision of Directive 91/477 CEE on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons, adopting the text that will be part...

14 July, 2016 /

Spanish and Portuguese hunters participated in the successful project LIFE+IBERLINCE, which has tripled the number of Iberian lynx in only one decade from less than 100 individuals in 2002 to more than 400 in 2015. LIFE+Iberlince has been running from 2011, and will finish in 2017; there have also been three other previous Life projects since 2002. The current project, “Recovery of the historical distribution of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) in Spain and Portugal”, was set up by the...

13 July, 2016 /

This morning MEPs expressed support for the EU’s proposal to have international guidelines on trade and traceability in hunting trophies. At the same time they rejected a proposal to call for a ban on trophy hunting and to ban the sale of hunting trophies. The European Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) adopted a draft resolution on the EU’s strategic objectives for a major international conference on global wildlife trade, which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 24 September to 5...

12 July, 2016 /

FACE is putting a special focus on women hunters to learn more about their motivations, challenges and views. Here’s a snapshot from Lucía Rubio in Spain. Lucía Rubio is a 23 passionate hunter from Madrid. She began hunting at the early age of 3, when her father and grandmother took her game hunting. Besides her love of hunting, she works for a TV channel specialised in hunting, where she films and produces documentaries around the world: “I’m very lucky, thanks to...

11 July, 2016 /

The European Commission has made public its expert study: Evaluation Study to Support the Fitness Check of the Birds and Habitats Directives. The study, which was completed in March 2016, was only made public yesterday due to an official access to document request made by the WWF The report was prepared by a group of experts led by Milieu Ltd. on the request of the European Commission in the framework of its “Fitness Check” of the Birds and Habitats Directives. In...

09 July, 2016 /

The development of the revised Strategic Plan for the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) for the period 2019 – 2027 was formally launched at the meeting of the AEWA Strategic Plan Working Group in Bonn on the 28-30 June 2016. FACE was represented by Dr. David Scallan. The meeting brought together a wide range of AEWA stakeholders, including designated representatives from Contracting Parties, members of both the Standing and Technical Committees as well as a number of key AEWA partner organizations. Aside...

07 July, 2016 /

FACE is pleased to announce that an agreement was reached to establish a European Goose Management Platform under AEWA. The meeting, which took place in Paris on the 11-12 May 2016, was attended by the following AEWA range states: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and UK. The meeting was hosted and organised by the French Ministry of the Environment, Energy and the Sea as well as OMPO and represents a major turning point in the way...

01 June, 2016 /

Hunters team up with public bodies responsible for state forestry services in Poland in order to preserve the country’s capercaillie population. In the provinces of Dolnoslaskie in Poland’s South-East, and Podlaskie in the North-West, populations of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus), the largest member of the Grouse family, are in decline. At the beginning of the 20th century there were more than 3000 capercaillies living in Poland, however recent population estimates put the current figure at 350-450 individuals. Shrinking populations of...

04 May, 2016 /

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has published a paper titled ‘Informing decisions on trophy hunting - A Briefing Paper for European Union Decision-makers regarding potential plans for restriction of imports of hunting trophies’. This publication draws on a set of case studies to highlight that while there is considerable poor practice in trophy hunting and a strong need for reform, well managed trophy hunting can - and does - positively contribute to conservation and local livelihoods in...

19 April, 2016 /

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