58th INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CIC: In St. Petersburg, hunters for a sustainable use of natural resources.
From 12 to 15 May 2011, the CIC (International Council of Hunting and Wildlife Conservation), world leader in sustainable hunting and wildlife conservation, gathered its members from all over the world in St. Petersburg, for the 58th General Assembly, under the motto: “Hunting, a part of cultural heritage”.
"The CIC is particularly grateful to the Russian government, the city of St. Petersburg and the Russian Federation of Public Hunting and Fishing Associations for the invitation to hold this General Assembly in St. Petersburg," said Bernard Lozé, President of the CIC. “In a setting of beautiful scenarios and social encounters, we members, partners and friends of the CIC gather here in St. Petersburg to achieve some important objectives and concrete results, in line with our ideas and our mission. We are still celebrating the success of falconry, which has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, truly demonstrating that hunting is an integral part of culture and fundamental for human development, ”concluded Lozé.
As editor, CIC presented in St. Petersburg the 9th edition of "The Evolution of CITES", a manual that will support the work of the CITES Convention (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) to improve trade regulation of plants and animals at risk of extinction (www.cites.org).
The position of the CIC will be very important to this end, as every CITES authority in the world, from customs checkpoints to international airports, will work with this 934-page book with the CIC logo printed on the cover. During the inaugural ceremony at the Smolny Institute, which saw the interventions, in addition to the Presidency of the CIC, by Yuri Troutnev, Minister of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Valentina Matvienko, Governor of St. Petersburg and John Scanlon, Secretary General CITES, a video was presented on nature, wild species and hunting in Russia, which was then spoken by the President of the Russian Federation of Public Hunting and Fishing Associations, as well as Head of the Russian Delegation of the CIC, Edward Benderskiy.
Also present, speaking in the introductory works, Nicholas Hanley of the EU Commission, Kalev Sepp, Vice-President of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), Thierry de l'Escaille, Secretary General of ELO (Organization of European Landowners ), Gilbert de Turckheim, President of FACE, and Nikola Belev, President of OIE (World Organization of Animal Health).
All guests witnessing the profitable operational relationships maintained in the world by CIC with many non-hunting organizations, but of fundamental complementarity to hunting and conservation, because decisive results can only be obtained thanks to a common and shared commitment between several subjects, be they institutional, professional or voluntary: the only way to prevent hunting is isolated from the rest of the world, while it is an integral part of it.
The sessions of the three current new Divisions were then held in which the CIC is concretely articulated, namely the Legal Division, the Applied Sciences Division and the Culture Division.
Each of them avails itself of the contribution of CIC members who are experts and professionals in these sectors, who with their contribution make it possible to define work strategies and objectives to be achieved. It is enough to mention some of the numerous topics under discussion, to realize the concreteness that animates the work of the CIC: the advance of large carnivores, which are repopulating their original habitats in Europe and which pose serious problems of cohabitation with humans. and other wild species, to be managed and resolved, such as the impact of the Eurasian lynx on roe deer, hare and grouse, or the return of the wolf to Switzerland and Sweden; the figure of the hunter as a naturalist, connoisseur of the principles, criteria and indicators of sustainable hunting; techniques for limiting the impacts of agricultural work in the territories of stable meadows and forage meadows; the conservation methodologies of water birds in Russia, intended as an international resource; the new biodiversity strategy planned by the European Union.
Alongside these predominant themes, hunting dogs, falconry, hunting in Russian art, hunting and environmental literature, hunting and music were also discussed. The Culture Division, in particular, awarded the illustrated volume "Hunting in the Alps - Wild Fauna" by various authors, published by the Athesia Publishing House in Bolzano, conceived and published by the Italians Ingeborg Lanthaler and Johann Waldner, while the prestigious Prize International CIC Edmond Blanc was awarded this year to Angola's Cangandala National Park and Luando Reserve, with a diploma of recognition from the Russian Kurgan Regional Union of Hunters and Fishermen.
The shareholders' meeting then approved the budgets, some statutory changes and the entry of new members (including the Como Association of Valbrona Hunters), as well as the new Steering Committee that will lead the world meeting of hunters for the next three years. President Lozé was reconfirmed, just as he was appointed, as Honorary President, Dieter Schramm.
Change of the guard, on the contrary, for several Vice-Presidents, and Italy had the honor of seeing Massimo Marracci elected to the Vice-Presidency for the Mediterranean, which groups all the countries of the northern and southern shores of the Mare Nostrum, as well as Giovanni Pejrone Advisateur was reconfirmed.
For our country, in addition to the Head of Delegation Giovanni Bana, the outgoing Vice-President Carlo Alberto Pejrone (appointed member of a small group of Directors of the Honorary President) and the Secretary of the Delegation Massimo Marracci, they participated in the meeting in Russia the Presidents of Federcaccia and ANUUMigratoristi, respectively Gianluca Dall'Olio and Marco Castellani, Anna Maria Bianchi and Stefano D'Ambrosi of the Ministry for Agricultural Policies, Bruno Lauro Vigna, President of the CIC Italia Grand Gibier Commission - Exhibitions and Trophies, Vito Genco of ANPAM and Mauro Silvis of CNCN, and the other partners Enrico Scoccini, Valentino Sanvito, Carlo Peroni, Giuseppe Cassina, Luigi Quaglio.
The 59th General Assembly will take place in South Africa from 7-11 May 2012.
May, 2011
CIC Italy Press