Title:

New position on lead ammunition developed by IUCN

Abstract:

In 2016, FACE worked tirelessly on an IUCN motion, which was originally designed to ban all lead ammunition over all habitats, including for Olympic shooting disciplines. In September 2016, the motion was put to the floor of the IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) in Hawaii where FACE was represented by Dr. David Scallan. Prior to the vote at the IUCN WCC, there were intense meetings with a range of IUCN State, Government and NGO Members. The adopted motion in its request to Governments, asks: "to phase-out, where feasible, lead shot used for hunting over wetlands and lead ammunition used for hunting in areas where scavengers are at particular risk from the use of lead ammunition, based on scientific evidence, and the replacement of it with suitable alternatives". The latter aspect of the motion (i.e. focusing on scavengers) was voted on separately by IUCN Members prior to the vote on the entire motion. Both votes were passed by the vast majority of IUCN Members. During the discussions and negotiations, FACE argued against a global ban on lead ammunition stating that no risk/economic/welfare assessment had been conducted and pointed to issues regarding the evidence-base, animal welfare, the availability and cost of alternatives as well as potential impacts on hunter-led conservation work. FACE also argued that where issues occur with the use of lead ammunition, they can be managed through risk mitigation options that are targeted at the risk and are proportionate to the level of risk. With regard to wetlands, FACE argued that further action is needed because even within Europe, some countries have still not phased out lead shot in wetlands, many years afer original target deadlines under the African Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement.

Item Type:
Report
Language:
en
Keywords:
Files:
Attachment Size
IUCN POSITION ON LEAD AMMUNITION.pdf 117.27 KB