Dear Constituent,
Thank you for contacting me about trophy hunting.
I appreciate the strength of feeling around this issue. Around a million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction and the abundance, diversity and connectivity of species is declining faster than at any time in human history. My parliamentary colleagues and I take the welfare of all animals extremely seriously and are committed to strengthening and supporting long-term conservation of animals both internationally and at home.
In 2019, the previous Conservative Government held a consultation on the scale and impact of the import and export of hunting trophies. Over 44,000 responses to the call for evidence and consultation were received and 85 per cent of responses were in favour of further action. The Government’s response to the consultation set out plans to ban imports of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species. It can be reviewed in more detail here: Summary of responses and government response - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill was introduced to Parliament in June 2022 as a Private Member’s Bill to ban the import of hunting trophies from around 6,000 species, including lions, elephants, rhinos, and polar bears. My ministerial colleagues and I were disappointed that despite the overwhelming support from MPs and the public, this Bill failed to progress through Committee stage in the House of Lords in the last Parliament. I understand that accepting the amendments proposed by Peers would have undermined the Government’s important commitment in this area.
The previous Government has also committed to working internationally on endangered species in our 25-year plan to protect and improve international biodiversity. You can read this here: 25 Year Environment Plan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
I am aware that the new Government promised to ban the import of hunting trophies in the Labour manifesto, and I will be watching to see if Ministers stick to this promise.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
