The narrative that hunting poses a threat to species has no scientific basis and misleads the British citizenry and the world at large.

The Ministry of Environment and Tourism has expressed concern over the purported United Kingdom ( UK) Parliamentary Bill that is expected to ban the importation of legally harvested wildlife trophies into UK, a majority of which are from Africa.

This comes after MPs voted to support a controversial ban on importing hunting trophies from thousands of species into the UK, preventing British hunters from bringing body parts of lions, elephants and giraffes into the country.

The private member’s bill was put forward by Conservative MP Henry Smith and backed by the government. It received support of parliament after years of divisive debate on the issue. MPs from across the political spectrum spoke in favour of the legislation before it passed.

However, many scientists, environmentalists and African community leaders have said the new law could accelerate the loss of wildlife, and accused celebrity campaigners who are in support of this “neo- colonialism.”

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Goabaone Raphaka told Botswana Guardian that the decision had no scientific basis and therefore is misleading the entire world.

The Ministry is of the view that forcing Botswana and other African countries to manage wildlife with reduced funding will only disadvantage these countries.

“With reduced funding it will negatively impact conservation projects, biodiversity enhancement initiatives and habitat protection in the region.

“It will also increase the risk of poaching and human- wildlife conflict, negatively impacting for example the largest herd of elephants that Botswana supports,” he said.

The list of targeted wildlife includes all species that are on the Botswana hunting quota.

Raphaka said that if the Bill is passed by Parliament, this would also affect Botswana’s wildlife management.

He explained that the importation ban of legally harvested wildlife trophies will negatively impact wildlife authorities including Professional Hunting Associations and CommunityBased Support Organisations from across Africa, thereby drastically reducing hunting incentives for Britons to hunt abroad, primarily in Africa.

He said that trophy hunting is a key component of sustainable use approaches to wildlife conservation in Botswana.

“It has underpinned many of the varied community based natural resources management programmes that work towards more equitable, fair and inclusive biodiversity conservation, and as such Botswana has earned international accolades for her sterling efforts to conserve and manage her wildlife resources,” he said.

Raphaka said this has been sustainable because of “our governance system and conservation strategies” that focus on the broader ecosystem rather than isolated issues.

He noted that elephants are an example of species whose numbers have increased in Botswana as a result of judicious management by government and its partners including community based organisations.

He added that communities continue to generate considerable revenues through community quotas and special elephant quotas.

This is subsequently used to finance elephant conservation projects and livelihood- enhancement projects for communities in Botswana’s elephant range, as well as replenishing Conservation Trust Fund.

In addition, the Ministry utilises the latest in Population Science, Wildlife Survey Data, and Fair- chase Guidelines when overseeing hunting operations.

“It is therefore crucial for Botswana to continue spreading its message on the conservation benefits of its Community Based Natural Resource Management ( CBNRM) model,” Raphaka said.