CITES COP 17: Spotlight on poaching and hunting
The Department of Environmental affairs says one of the main issues that needs to be discussed at the CITES COP 17 conference is the difference between poaching and hunting in the country, as calls continue for the government to ban hunting of some animals in the country.
The conference kicked off yesterday in Johannesburg at the Sandton Convention Centre with President Jacob Zuma opening the 17th Conference of the Parties. Earlier this month, 7 NGOs made an appeal at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii to have a ban put on hunting of captive bred lions and other predators in South Africa.
Spokesperson, Albi Modise, says the department has been asked why they allow hunting to happen in the face of poaching.
"Our argument is that poaching is poaching and hunting is hunting. Hunting is a form of conservation that we use to ensure that we continue to grow the species while at the same time we utilise them," he said.
"We subscribe to what we refer to as sustainable utilisation which means South Africa will continue to utilise natural resources in a manner that is sustainable," Modise.
"It is a manner that is informed by science but at the same time takes cognizance of the multilateral platforms that we are a part of which regulate the trade of some of these species," he said.
(Supplied photo)