The minister of Environment, Tourism and Wildlife Tshekedi Khama has expressed approval on a call by the European Union to ban the importation of products of trophy hunting.
The USA imposed a ban on trophies hunted from the SADC region and the EU Parliament intends to move a motion to ban the importation of trophies hunted from the region as well.
Whilst minister Khama admitted that they have not formally received an official document, he said he welcomed the move.
“They haven’t informed us officially and we are waiting to hear from them as to what exactly it is that they intend to achieve.”
Whilst other countries such as Zimbabwe and Namibia have expressed concern over the planned vote to ban trophy hunting imports, Botswana has remained unmoved reiterating that trophy hunting is bad for conservation efforts.
“They should do more on poaching especially the control of guns which are used by poachers,” said minister Khama.
The European Parliament last month hosted a discussion in Brussels calling for a complete ban on trophy-hunting imports into the EU or for current legislation to be tightened. Concerns and debates around the role of trophy hunting in conservancies raged last year after the killing of ‘Cecil the lion’ in Zimbabwe and an endangered black rhino in Namibia.
These two incidents triggered demands to ban trophy hunting throughout Africa, and according to international reports, several airliners last year banned the transportation of hunters’ animal trophies aboard their planes.
“I think it is a welcome move; they should go all the way and see how best they can help in anti-poaching,” concluded Khama.
