Namibia's Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta on Monday expressed concern over the global trend of restricting hunting, highlighting the need to balance conservation with the welfare of local communities.
Speaking at the 21st African Wildlife Consultative Forum in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, Shifeta emphasized the importance of addressing this issue and developing mechanisms to counter the ongoing onslaught against hunting.
"Namibia believes that hunting has a place in our conservation and social set-up, and will support all efforts aiming at promoting well-regulated and people-centered hunting," he said.
Shifeta said that wildlife conservation is a vital economic activity in many African countries and highlighted how well-developed wildlife industries contribute significantly to job creation, and rural and national economies, directly benefiting local communities.
"We have to find mechanisms to stop the further decline of wildlife by adopting models that work for both wildlife and people on whose land wildlife occurs.
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