Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-185"
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"en.20040113.7.2-185"2
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".
Mr President, we lacked the imagination, when preparing my statement, to include the aspect of hunting in Europe. I see that quite simply as being outside the scope of what one would normally expect this initiative to cover and fully agree with Mr De Rossa, Mr Corrie and others who have addressed this misunderstanding.
We have enough real problems to cope with. The remarks made by Mrs Mathieu and others about hunting not being the only threat to these species are very important to bear in mind. There are two separate aspects: that of a deliberate threat, driven by greed, and that of a threat that is driven by people's need to survive. Both are equally dangerous for the species we are talking about.
In this discussion I see a parallel with the difficult issue of the need for Africans to change and move from a pastoral lifestyle, where they roam the countryside grazing their cattle, but in which there is an imbalance between the number of people and cattle and the square kilometres available. It is this pressure on land use, reflecting urbanisation and population growth, which many people do not expect to be a problem in a place as big as Africa.
However, when one looks at the environmental constraints, such as access to water, Africa is not so big. The pressure on forests is one such systemic, ongoing and dramatic pressure which presents perhaps the greatest obstacle to establishing a sustainable alternative because the issue has to do with poverty and with real problems. We should mount a strong front to tackle the problem of criminal acts driven by greed. Trying to convince logging companies to act within the law and to adhere to regulations, and for this to be more widely recognised by governments, is part of the drive to create a minimum of decency in matters relating to forestry in African countries. This is quite clearly part of the action and our policy.
Finally, there are many aspects to the trade issue. One is quite simply our own legitimate defence of our health standards. We stopped imports of Nile perch from Lake Victoria for a number of years until we successfully managed – and this is one of my pet cases – to create an effective phytosanitary control. These exports are now up and running again and we have recreated thousands of jobs on a sustainable basis. I find it a little strange, however, that we have not done anything similar when it comes to bushmeat. What people have said in this debate is quite correct: ebola is one threat and there are many other very difficult aspects of this trade which require considerable attention. At the same time, many people depend for their survival on being able to hunt and eat bushmeat in their normal, traditional environment. We should respect that.
We have had the debate about the brain drain. Maybe we can start discussing the protein drain, where the temptation to get our hands on exotic protein should be countered by focusing greater public attention on the issues involved. I would like to thank Parliament and the rapporteur for this initiative."@en1
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