A force ‘of nature’ for good.
Hunters For Conservation may seem to the uninitiated like an oxymoron, but hear me out: no one appreciates the delicate balance of our natural environment quite like a hunter, and no one benefits from its preservation quite like a hunter. It is in our best interest to do whatever we can to preserve and promote habitat conservation.
Hunting generally relates to the experience that we have out in the field. No one can second guess what it means for a hunter or the impact that has on the person in the moment sitting by a pond waiting or watching a falcon fly through the mountains in between glassing game on the hill. I can only describe what it has meant to me.
Hunting is (at its heart) about building a foundation for patience and the love of the outdoors. Promoting the joy of endless miles walking through streams and around mountain trails, enjoying the pure air and bright sunshine. All the while building internal health and strength to better understand nature and the environment. A feeling you only get from being out there doing it.
That’s why, I believe, hunters make great conservationists. They are the doers and have a passion for the great outdoors. However, to be great conservationists, we need to build trust within our society and become better conversationalists, so that a portion of money generated from hunting goes back into conservation and has measurable benefits to the environment.
Our experiences are often not thought about until we sit around the campfire or table and reflect and discuss. We all know when you are “out here doing it”, you are in a different zone. It’s not until later that you can freely share those moments and experiences. As hunters, we need to better communicate what hunting can achieve for conservation, the environment and education of our future hunters. That is why social media has been one of the best tools for the hunting industry; it captures and tells great stories.
If there’s just one thing we can achieve as hunters, for me, it would be giving our children an opportunity to be involved in all aspects of the outdoors. We can inspire, as parents, by adding rewarding experiences to our children’s lives. Opportunities like this will be the moments that they will reflect on, and go back to, and will help them see the value of our natural world in later years. There is compelling research in this area and it supports why educating the next generation of hunters is so important.
An appreciation for wildlife habitat is one of the most important aspects of conservation. This leads to healthy herds, good ecosystems and sustainable business. We live in a very biodiversity-rich environment in New Zealand. However, like wildlife, it needs to be managed and kept in balance. Hunters have a real role to support good research and science to balance this debate in New Zealand.
We can help bring our human population back to nature. We are now urbanised and suburbanised, and many have been for two or three generations. We have constructed concrete worlds and accepted them as reality, crowded together, far removed from the natural world, and reliant upon convenience. In this world of convenience, it is easy to think no more about an animal’s intrinsic worth than what is contained between a Styrofoam tray where neither life nor death has any meaning beyond its price per kilogram.
Maintaining healthy ecosystems requires people who care, as well as science and research and balanced or unbiased educational programs. Nature and conservation needs will continue to come under pressure as the world population continues to grow.
Hunters for Conservation is not alone. There are many other trusts and charitable organisations worldwide that are doing great work in the hunting for conservation space. From my own research, what all of our organisations are learning is that the world’s population keeps growing, putting more of the natural resources and the environments under more significant pressure, and we need to redress the balance.
So, in conclusion, we hunters are woven into to the fabric of our land, and we care about its inhabitants and the quality of their habitats. We have to if we are to continue to enjoy its bountiful splendour. And so, we ask you to consider supporting Hunters for Conservation and the future funding of the New Zealand outdoors.
