Endangered specie: WWF voices concerns over houbara hunting
The birds are used in Arab countries to teach falcons to hunt.
LAHORE:
Scores of houbara bustards are hunted without permits and trapped in Pakistan, the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The bustards are prized for their meat and are used in Arab countries to teach falcons to hunt. The population of the birds that had been declining rapidly 20 years earlier has stabilised chiefly due to the efforts of the Houbara Foundation International. The foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that is devoted to conserving the bustard in close collaboration with the provincial wildlife departments and law enforcement authorities. The organisation’s initiative to conserve the houbara population in the Nag Valley in collaboration with the Balochistan Wildlife Department has tasted marked success. The WWF-P said it appreciated the organisation’s effort and praised the government’s decision of banning the hunting of the bustards in the valley.
The Fund had also praised the government for introducing a moratorium on houbara hunting in the 2014-2015 hunting season. This move was rendered void by the government’s decision to grant hunting permits to several individuals. The Fund urged the government to support sustainable hunting of the bustards and strive to reduce illegal hunting and overhunting by local and foreign hunters.
The Fund stressed the importance of taking various steps in this regard in the statement: (a) Conservation of the houbara and its habitat in the wild, (b) controlled hunting of the species to be undertaken within the framework of species’ conservation and to benefit local communities in the houbara habitat; (c) in order to determine the population status and trends of the species, a population survey on standard formats and protocols should be undertaken; (d) during the hunting season, a framework should be developed to record the number of birds hunted in a specific area, registering any deviations from the agreed hunting regulations such as the bag limit of 100 birds, prohibition of use of guns and the 10-day maximum hunting period each season; (e) the government should continue prohibiting hunting in the houbara breeding areas, such as Nag Valley, that should be declared a sanctuary for the birds. Hunting should also be prohibited in protected areas, especially national parks and wildlife sanctuaries; (f) WWF–P strongly recommends that the foreign ministry should coordinate with representatives of the Climate Change Division and Wildlife Departments to facilitate the sharing of relevant information before the allocation of hunting areas to foreign dignitaries and the provinces must contribute data regarding the houbara population before any allocation is made; (g)WWF–P believes in partnership with houbara habitat communities as major stakeholders. Community based organisations should be constituted in the habitats of the bustard in Pakistan so that local communities can benefit through sustainable use of the species and play a role in protecting and conserving the birds in their area and (h) to streamline conservation of houbara bustard in the country, a Houbara Bustard Conservation and Development Fund should be established at the national level.
The bustard has been listed as a vulnerable specie in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. It is also listed in CITES Appendix I regarding species that are vulnerable to being hunted and poached due to their economic value. Populations of the bird extend from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia to China.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.
Scores of houbara bustards are hunted without permits and trapped in Pakistan, the Worldwide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The bustards are prized for their meat and are used in Arab countries to teach falcons to hunt. The population of the birds that had been declining rapidly 20 years earlier has stabilised chiefly due to the efforts of the Houbara Foundation International. The foundation is a not-for-profit organisation that is devoted to conserving the bustard in close collaboration with the provincial wildlife departments and law enforcement authorities. The organisation’s initiative to conserve the houbara population in the Nag Valley in collaboration with the Balochistan Wildlife Department has tasted marked success. The WWF-P said it appreciated the organisation’s effort and praised the government’s decision of banning the hunting of the bustards in the valley.
The Fund had also praised the government for introducing a moratorium on houbara hunting in the 2014-2015 hunting season. This move was rendered void by the government’s decision to grant hunting permits to several individuals. The Fund urged the government to support sustainable hunting of the bustards and strive to reduce illegal hunting and overhunting by local and foreign hunters.
The Fund stressed the importance of taking various steps in this regard in the statement: (a) Conservation of the houbara and its habitat in the wild, (b) controlled hunting of the species to be undertaken within the framework of species’ conservation and to benefit local communities in the houbara habitat; (c) in order to determine the population status and trends of the species, a population survey on standard formats and protocols should be undertaken; (d) during the hunting season, a framework should be developed to record the number of birds hunted in a specific area, registering any deviations from the agreed hunting regulations such as the bag limit of 100 birds, prohibition of use of guns and the 10-day maximum hunting period each season; (e) the government should continue prohibiting hunting in the houbara breeding areas, such as Nag Valley, that should be declared a sanctuary for the birds. Hunting should also be prohibited in protected areas, especially national parks and wildlife sanctuaries; (f) WWF–P strongly recommends that the foreign ministry should coordinate with representatives of the Climate Change Division and Wildlife Departments to facilitate the sharing of relevant information before the allocation of hunting areas to foreign dignitaries and the provinces must contribute data regarding the houbara population before any allocation is made; (g)WWF–P believes in partnership with houbara habitat communities as major stakeholders. Community based organisations should be constituted in the habitats of the bustard in Pakistan so that local communities can benefit through sustainable use of the species and play a role in protecting and conserving the birds in their area and (h) to streamline conservation of houbara bustard in the country, a Houbara Bustard Conservation and Development Fund should be established at the national level.
The bustard has been listed as a vulnerable specie in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. It is also listed in CITES Appendix I regarding species that are vulnerable to being hunted and poached due to their economic value. Populations of the bird extend from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia to China.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.