European Sustainable Use Group ESUG
http://esug.sycl.net/links.aspx
The name European Sustainable Use Group is a proud reflection of its origin. ESUG is governed by its members, who delegate responsibility between general meetings to an elected Chairperson, currently Prof Robert Kenward of the UK, and
elected Committee, currently Dr Tetiana Gardashuk (Ukraine), Mrs Despina Symons (Belgium), Dr Zenon Tederko (Poland), Prof Mari Ivask (Estonia), Dr Julie Ewald (UK), and Ms Jennifer Ailloud (France); Robin Sharp CB is Chair Emeritus. The Group has a part time Secretariat c/o EBCD, Rue de la Science 10, 1000-Brussels. ESUG works through projects to produce knowledge tools for conservation through sustainable use of biodiversity, either as policy documents and instruments for governments, or software tools, including web-portals, to distribute knowledge.
Currently there are 87 individual expert members of ESUG from 33 European countries. A majority are also members of IUCN thematic groups for either the Sustainable Use and Livelihoods (SULi) Specialist Group of IUCN and the thematic group for Sustainable Use and Management of Ecosystems (SUME).
The IUCN European Sustainable Use Group publishes links to several useful reports on their webpage. These articles, papers and videos are also very valuable to put some perspective into the polarized discussions between the pro-use and anti–use camps and should be of special interest to the Members of the European Parliament who drafted and signed the Declaration against Trophy Hunting. Below you can find a list of relevant publications. Click on the link to access the article.
Newspaper Articles
➢ Jon Hutton on CITES in 1997 remains just as relevant today
➢ Ivo Vegter on Africa’s hunting policies
➢ Community rights for forest management in Liberia – thanks to Norway
➢ Simon Jenkins, economics column in The Guardian, talks sense on Cecil
➢ Brian Child on rhinos
➢ Hawaii: Who would kill a Monk Seal?
➢ Alaska: Why would anyone want to shoot a Sea Otter?
Scientific Papers
➢ Namibian conservancy income from hunting complements tourism
➢ Hutton & Leader-Williams: Sustainable Use and Incentive-driven Conservation
➢ Kenward et al. Identifying governance strategies that effectively support ecosystem services,resource sustainability, and biodiversity
Reports
➢ Dan Challender on Trophy Hunting in European Parliament 24 Feb 2016
➢ Robert Kenward Report for Hunting in Protected Areas
Video
➢ Brian Child explains differences between SU & Animal Rights
[Editor’s Note: Although the two articles “Who would kill a monk seal”(The New York Times, May 2013) and “Why would anyone want to shoot a sea otter” (The Guardian, March 2015) do not have any direct connection to Africa they make fascinating reading. Both articles are eye-openers! I also recommend the rather old article by Jon Hutton on CITES – it has not lost any relevance indeed – especially in the year of the 17th Conference of the Parties of CITES in Johannesburg!]