I understand that there is a great 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. The Government is committed to doing all it can to support wildlife and the environment, both in the UK and internationally, and I am pleased that the recent Queen's Speech reaffirmed that Ministers will be delivering on the manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from endangered species.
The consultation on controls on the import and export of hunting trophies, which closed in February 2020, was the first step in fulfilling this commitment and provided an opportunity for respondents to offer views on which species they considered needed further restrictions. 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.
The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill was introduced to Parliament as a Private Member’s Bill in June 2022. The Government fully supports this Bill, which will ban the import of hunting trophies for specific species. The Bill includes a power to add or remove species from the scope of the ban, which will ensure that the Bill remains comprehensive and adaptive in achieving its aims.
I welcome that this Bill continues to make good progress and I look forward to following the progress of this Bill in due course.
Climate change and global biodiversity decline are interlinked threats for wildlife and people. I know that biodiversity is declining at a dangerous and unprecedented speed, and species extinction rates are accelerating, with up to 1 million species threatened. Overexploitation is one of the drivers of species extinction and additional pressures on vulnerable species can result from unsustainable or inappropriately managed activity. I believe that transformative changes are needed to restore and protect nature.
In the 25 Year Environment Plan, the UK Government committed to providing international leadership in protecting and improving international biodiversity and undertaking international action to protect endangered species. This international leadership is underpinned by a strong commitment to ensuring that the UK’s domestic policy does not threaten the conservation of species abroad. While I recognise that some conservationists believe trophy hunting can be an effective conservation tool, supporting local livelihoods and attracting revenues for other conservation activities, it is also important to acknowledge concerns around the practice of trophy hunting. I therefore look forward to seeing how the Government's proposed action addresses these concerns.