Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy Briefing on the draft Norms and Standards for the Trophy Hunting of Leopard in South Africa 03 November 2020 1 Purpose To brief the Select Committee on Land Reform,
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Presentation Transcript
01
Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy Briefing on the draft Norms and Standards for the Trophy Hunting of Leopard in South Africa
03 November 2020 1<br>
02
Purpose To brief the Select Committee on Land Reform,
Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy on the draft
Norms and Standards for the Trophy Hunting of Leopard
in South Africa, developed in terms of the National
Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act
No. 10 of 2004) (NEMBA) 2<br>
03
Lay-out Introduction
Management of leopard
quota
Key requirements
for trophy hunting
Key areas of concern
NCOP consultation
Recommendation 3<br>
04
Introduction A Scientific Authority has been established by the
Minister in terms of the NEMBA, and its functions are
set out in section 61 of NEMBA
Amongst other things, the Scientific Authority must make non-detriment findings (NDFs) to determine whether international trade has a detrimental impact on the survival of species in the wild that are listed:
as threatened or protected (TOPS); or
in the appendices of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
A preliminary NDF for leopard was published in the
Gazette on 10 September 2015, for scientific input. 4<br>
05
Introduction The NDF highlighted the following:
Key threats to the leopard population of South Africa:
habitat loss/ fragmentation;
excessive legal and illegal off-take of damage-causing
leopard;
poorly managed trophy hunting;
illegal trade in leopard skins for cultural and religious attire;
incidental snaring; and
unethical radio-collaring of leopard for research and tourism
No reliable estimate of the South African leopard population
To address this, the Scientific Authority recommended:
a zero trophy hunting quota for 2016;
guidelines for the allocation of leopard trophy hunting quotas; 5<br>
06
Introduction implementation of urgent measures to facilitate sustainable
use of leopard populations, which would include norms and
standards (N&S) for the management and monitoring of leopard
hunts
Draft norms and standards for the trophy hunting of
leopard were developed and published in the Gazette
for public participation on 08 February 2017
A National Leopard Monitoring Framework was
implemented to provide density estimates (number of
leopard/ 100 km²):
piloted in KZN and Limpopo in 2013; and
expanded to Mpumalanga and North West in 2016, and Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape in 2017 6<br>
07
Management of leopard quota Export quota for 150 leopard skins under CITES
Data from the National Leopard Monitoring Framework are
used to determine annual hunting quotas
Recommendations on the hunting quotas are made by the
Scientific Authority to the Minister
Allocation of quotas since implementation of the Framework: 7<br>
08
Key requirements for trophy hunting 8<br>
09
Key requirements for trophy hunting 9<br>
10
Key requirements for trophy hunting 10<br>
11
Key areas of concern The key concern related firstly to the age of male leopards (7 years or older) as contained in the legislation
Substantial consultation took place with provincial conservation authorities through inter-governmental structures:
the rationale for requiring an age of 7 years or older for male
leopards, was not disputed
reference to terms such as an “adult/ old/ mature” male is
vague and would be difficult to define (subjective)
the age of 7 years to be retained in the Norms and Standards
a buffer age of 6-7 years should be provided to facilitate
implementation (i.e. when to institute criminal proceedings)
e.g. person can be required to motivate why he/ she should
NOT be prosecuted 11<br>
12
Key areas of concern The Legal Working Group of MINTECH indicated that
an approach to require the hunter to motivate why he/
she should not be prosecuted if a sub-adult male or
female leopard is hunted, would not be unlawful
Secondly, there was concern regarding the age of the
animal in relation to the ability to successfully
prosecute a person who does not comply with this
requirement – ability to prove intent
Aspects to be dealt with through a procedural
guideline rather than to legislate it through the N&S
include:
who should apply for hunting quotas; 12<br>
13
Key areas of concern who should the quota be allocated to (landowner vs hunter vs
hunting outfitter)
date by which applications for hunting quotas should be
submitted
establishment of a Panel to assist with age determination
issuing of hunting permits in respect of a LHZ (as opposed to
a particular property)
disincentives for hunting under-aged male or female leopard
Hunting of leopard with the assistance of a trail camera
should remain a recommendation and not a compulsory
requirement
Training of EMIs should be done, but should not be a
compulsory requirement 13<br>
14
NCOP consultation Nature conservation is a functional area listed in
Schedule 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of South
Africa (the Constitution)
The draft Norms and Standards for the Trophy Hunting
of Leopard in South Africa was tabled with the NCOP
for approval in terms of:
section 8(3) of NEMBA; and
section 146 of the Constitution
The purpose of requiring NCOP approval is to resolve
conflict that may arise between national and provincial
legislation 14<br>
15
Recommendation The Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy support the draft Norms and Standards for the Trophy Hunting of Leopard in South Africa, developed in terms of NEMBA, for implementation 15<br>
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THANK YOU! Magdel Boshoff
Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries
Branch: Biodiversity and Conservation
Deputy Director: Threatened or Protected Species Policy Development
Tel: 012 399 9604 | Mobile: 083 952 2334
E-mail: mboshoff@environment.gov.za 16<br>
