FACE Biodiversity Manifesto database

The Biodiversity Manifesto is a substantial database of hunting-related conservation projects which support FACE’s advocacy work in Brussels. We now have strong evidence to show that hunters make a crucial contribution to habitats restoration, protected areas, species monitoring and much more.

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Bern Convention Charters

The Council of Europe’s Bern Convention is an international legal instrument, binding for its Contracting Parties, in the field of nature conservation, which covers most of the natural heritage of the European continent.

The Convention places a particular importance on the need to protect endangered natural habitats and vulnerable species, including migratory species. Its Standing Committee (T-PVS) monitors the implementation of the Convention at each of its meetings by reviewing reports, processing case-files and adopting recommendations.

Hunters contribute to the fulfilment of the conservation aims of the Bern Convention through regulating game populations and caring for their habitats, assisting in monitoring and research, and raising public awareness for conservation issues. Thus, hunters and hunting play an important role in the conservation of biodiversity.

In November 2004, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Recommendation 1689 regarding Hunting and Europe’s environmental balance, recommending inter alia that the Council of Europe “draw up a European charter on hunting, as a guide setting out common principles and good practices for hunting, particularly for the organisation of hunting tourism on the continent”. Three years later, the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention adopted such Charter, prepared by a Working Group of relevant experts and representatives from Contracting Parties and from NGOs – including FACE, the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) and the World Conservation Union/Special Survival Commission – European Sustainable Use Specialist Group (IUCN/SSC-ESUSG).

The European Charter on Hunting and Biodiversity promotes principles and guidelines intended to ensure that hunting and hunting tourism in Europe are practiced in a sustainable manner, making a positive contribution to the conservation of species and habitats and the needs of society.

AEWA Guidelines on National Legislation

These Conservation Guidelines are intended to assist countries in drafting new legislation, and reviewing and amending their existing national legislation, on the conservation and sustainable use of migratory waterbirds and their habitats. They are written for conservation professionals and officials in conservation ministries and agencies who develop draft and final legislation and make suggestions for improvement of existing and proposed legislation. The guidelines can also provide assistance to lawyers reviewing or vetting draft legislation. They are presented in simple terminology, and are intended to be accessible to non-lawyers.

The principal objective of these guidelines is to assist Parties in evaluating whether their national legislation complies with AEWA’s provisions and, where it does not, developing laws which fulfil their commitments under the Agreement. The guidelines are not intended to provide detailed advice on the drafting of either general conservation legislation or legislative provisions which (although beneficial to bird conservation) go beyond the requirements of AEWA. The guidelines also are not intended to duplicate, but rather to supplement, existing guidance. They should thus be read alongside AEWA’s other Conservation Guidelines (several of which make recommendations regarding legislation), as well as other relevant guidance documents (a list of which is provided in Annex I).

The Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for the Sustainable use of Biodiversity

The Addis Ababa principles were adopted by the CBD in 2004 and they provide an overall framework to assist Governments, the private sector, and other stakeholders ensure that the use of species and other elements of biodiversity is sustainable in the long-term. They contain 14 interdependent principles covering policies, laws, adaptive management, research, the needs of indigenous communities, participatory approaches, and education and awareness. The principles are each supported by a set of operational guidelines. The principles are all of general relevance, but each one may not apply equally in all situations and their application will vary according to the species, local conditions, and the institutional and cultural context.