WCC 2020 Res 076 - Activity Report

There has been engagement with a variety of stakeholders involved in the Wildlife-based Land Use sector. Further engagement is planned to may more extensive use of the platform provided by our Portal www.naturalliance.org

The major ongoing project of the SUME Thematic Group is the development of the multilingual internet portal: www.naturalliance.org which is designed to provide information, at grass-roots level, on the value and management of sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems and which is now available in multiple national and regional sites and, currently, in 42 languages. This portal has involved collaboration with the International Association for Falconry and the Conservation of Birds of Prey (IAF) who have provided translation capacity, the European Sustainable Use Group (ESUG) who have assisted with content and Anatrak Pty Lt which has provided IT development and support. This Portal provides for regional sites and national sites currently and currently hosts regional and national sites in Afrikaans, English, French, Hausa, isiZulu, Kiswahili and Portuguese. Thus, these sites correspond with the region envisaged within the Resolution and provide a useful vehicle to promote the One Program Initiative.

There is, currently, a narrative, which is promoted by Western Animal Rights advocates, that conflates legal hunting of large game animals and illegal hunting (poaching) and opposes both activities without consideration of the needs and opinions of local communities and indigenous peoples who coexist with these animals. An effort was made to communicate with these affected people and to elicit their experiences and opinions by of a competition: “Tell Your Story”. This pilot project had limited response and will need further planning and funding if it is to be successful.