The Countryside Alliance has welcomed the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) decision to reject a ban on lead ammunition for Olympic shooting along with a number of further restrictions. Instead members at the 2016 World Conservation Congress, of which the UK is one, voted to 'promote, where feasible, the phasing out of lead shot used for hunting over wetlands and lead ammunition used for hunting in areas where scavengers are at particular risk from the use of lead ammunition'.
This IUCN Motion compliments the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) decision on the banning of lead shot over wetlands that the UK already adheres to. The decision to ban hunting in areas where scavengers are at risk stems from highly detailed studies on the California condor in America.
Jack Knott, spokesman at the Countryside Alliance, said: "This is a common-sense decision that focuses on the current science and takes into consideration the risks throughout the different signatories. Scavengers such as condors and vultures are known to be negatively affected by the continued use of lead shot. It is unnecessary to ban lead shot in the UK where our scavenger's populations (the red kite and buzzard) are currently increasing exponentially."
"We are grateful to the European Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) for their hard work that ensured this Motion was both science led and practical. The originally proposed Motion was specifically led by a number of anti-shooting organisations that attempted to force the IUCN to call for the phase out of all lead shot, including the use of lead at Olympic clay pigeon shooting level. These premeditated attacks on shooting are becoming a regular occurrence, fortunately through FACE and other shooting organisations policy can be developed based on facts and evidence."
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Notes to Editor:
Motion 90: A path forward to address concerns over the use of lead ammunition in hunting - https://portals.iucn.org/congress/motion/090