Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what evidence there is that wild lion trophy hunting has contributed to the conservation of the species.

The Government has previously commissioned a report by Professor Macdonald on Lion Conservation with Particular Respect to the Issue of Trophy Hunting. This report found that the primary benefit associated with trophy hunting is the protection of wildlife habitat by reducing the major threat of habitat loss. Lion trophy hunting enables land to be maintained under wildlife-based land use and often prevents the conversion of the area to other forms of land use such as agriculture. This habitat protection is also important for many other species, including endangered species. The report notes that a total area of around 1.4 million km2 was conserved for trophy-hunting in sub-Saharan Africa, which exceeded the area of national parks in those countries by 22%. The report also cited studies on the number of jobs supported by trophy hunting.

Environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) take different views on trophy hunting. My Hon. friend may be interested in the evidence cited by the

IUCN (https://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/iucn_informingdecisionsontrophyhuntingv1_1.pdf)

WWF (https://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/wwf_policy_and_considerations_re_trophy_hunting__july_2016_.pdf),

and Save the Rhino (https://www.savetherhino.org/assets/0001/7279/What_is_trophy_hunting.pdf).