We urge WWF to publicly support ban on trophy hunting imports.

After the Netherlands and France, Belgium was the 3rd country in the EU that wanted to speak out against the import of hunting trophies. A ban was unanimously supported by the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.

But together with the European hunting lobby group FACE the WWF defends the shooting of iconic animal species such as polar bears, lions and elephants. According to WWF climate change and poaching are worse than hobby hunters shooting down the most magnificent and strongest animals of endangered and protected species.

In Namibia, the WWF supports the conservancy concept, which sells hunts of lions, cheetahs or elephants to trophy hunting tour operators and foreign trophy hunters for little money. This is just an example of a hunt in such a facility:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puyrAgAMvPk

In other European countries, too, the WWF uses its influence to ensure that well-heeled trophy hunters can continue to shoot animals of endangered species and import trophies.
Example Switzerland: https://www.20min.ch/story/fuer-50000-dollar-einen-elefanten-toeten-findet-der-wwf-gut-634060343570?fbclid=IwAR0lqYEn8pznbsylmlzDde6BugXU622cfw7RiyAQ4w3hdIaszHT8WtS3rD4

Absurd when you consider that we are in the sixth mass extinction, according to current surveys more than 80% of people in many European countries are against trophy hunting.

Trophy hunting is devastating African wildlife and corrupting people and policies in Africa. It is a process whereby the public's wildlife heritage is transferred out of the public domain into the hands of hunters for cruel profiteering.

Study after study documents programs in which data on population declines are ignored, quotas go unenforced, illegal specimens are laundered through registered programs, and the promised benefits for local communities and conservation efforts never materialize.

In conclusion trophy hunting is NOT a sustainable conservation tool, it does NOT generate significant income for conservation. Compassionate solutions to conservation challenges, which encourage the development of sustainable and non-consumptive opportunities to generate iincome from wildlife while implicitly respecting and protecting the inherent value of individual wild animals and the natural world.

With the help of WWF Belgium's ban on the import of hunting trophies was rejected by the Council of State, which submitted the final decision to the European Commission. For its part, the Commission has shown little zeal to enforce such a ban. MEPs have asked Minister for Sustainable Development Zakia Khattabi (Ecolo) for a resolution. Khattabi has not yet commented on thie