UNA Foundation - Man, Nature, Environment - has officially joined the IUCN, the World Union for the Conservation of Nature, which aims to strengthen the dialogue on best practices for the conservation of the integrity and diversity of nature and, at the same time, of the environment. It is the first 100% Italian reality representative of the hunting world to be part of IUCN, which already includes other well-known associations such as WWF, Legambiente, Ispra and CNR; the Council of the Italian committee is co-chaired by the Ministry of the Environment and Federparchi. UNA Foundation - of which the Italian Hunting Federation is a founding member - was born with the aim of representing the meeting place between the hunting world and the environmental, agricultural and scientific-academic world.
Being integrated into a high-level think tank such as that of the IUCN therefore represents the recognition of hunting as a fundamental activity for the protection of biodiversity and the balance of nature: "the recognition of the UNA Foundation as part of the IUCN it is also a small step towards the recognition of the role of the hunter as Paladin of the Territory - said Maurizio Zipponi, President of the UNA Foundation - the hunter, in fact, has the task of preserving the natural balance and between animal species, but it is not limited to this: by contributing to the protection of parks and woods, intervening in support of local communities during emergencies and being at the forefront in the prevention or reporting of fires or floods, the hunter has shown that he knows how to go further the mere activity of hunting, and to position itself as a true champion of biodiversity ".
Among the objectives of the UNA Foundation there is precisely that of repositioning the activity of hunting and the figure of the hunter beyond shooting; the various projects related to the protection of some protected species are proof of this, like the one dedicated to the Marsicano Bear and managed together with Federparchi for the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise; or the extensive commitment to the fight against poaching as an unethical and unsustainable activity. The Foundation renews its enthusiasm for this opportunity and will not fail to seize all the opportunities for productive confrontation promoted, certain of being able to provide a competent point of view, balanced and rational on the best solutions to be adopted in relation to the environmental and development challenges we face.