Safari Club International celebrates the re-establishment of the Biodiversity, Hunting, and Countryside Intergroup of the European Parliament. After a long process of parliamentary negotiations resulting from the European elections in June 2024, lawmakers agreed to once again make the Intergroup a standing entity within the European Parliament. This instrumental body will allow and facilitate vigorous debate and education on hunting-related issues. European legislators originally created the Intergroup in 1985, after which it became among the most widely supported collaborative entities in Parliament.
Two organizations with which SCI has very strong ties—the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) and the European Landowners Organization (ELO)—serve as the Intergroup’s secretariat.
The Intergroup will hold several high-level events per year to debate hunting and conservation-related policies that encourage open dialogue with decision-makers, including the European Commission, European Parliament, stakeholders, and other experts. Furthermore, the Intergroup aims to promote sustainable-use policies, support rural constituents, reaffirm the importance of the countryside, discuss hunting-related issues at the EU level, offer a collaborative platform, and facilitate informed discussions.
“We must move beyond polarization, focusing on facts and data to identify concrete solutions to environmental and climate challenges,” said ELO Secretary General Jurgen Tack.
“Rural actors, including hunters, are at the forefront of managing Europe’s countryside,” noted FACE President Laurens Hoedemaker. “Their practical knowledge and long-standing experience are invaluable in implementing policies that deliver on the ground.”
“I am very happy that hunting-related issues are high on the agenda of the European Institutions,” added SCI Europe Committee President Dr. Miguel Estade. “I congratulate FACE and ELO for leading this process for the next five years and wish them success in holding horizontal debates with the main actors to inform them of the science-based evidence we have to defend hunting. This intergroup can count on our support within the challenges of this parliamentary term.”
“The Intergroup is an essential body that amplifies rural voices in critical policy debates regarding hunting, conservation, and land use issues,” said SCI President John McLaurin. “The European Parliament stands to reap enormous benefits as the Intergroup incorporates these critical considerations into the future of hunting policy on the continent.”
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