DEAT wants closer ties with game ranchers

Game farming and hunting contributes significantly to conservation, tourism development, job creation and sustainable development in rural areas, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, minister of environmental affairs and tourism, told a much relieved Professional Hunters’ Association of SA meeting in Johannesburg. “Hunting is integrated with various ­sectors of the economy. It is an important foreign currency earner and its contribution to the gross national product is substantial. I am very optimistic about the future of the game industry and the great potential to further nurture and promote its economic and conservation worth,” he said. But he warned that government also has a responsibility to preserve the resource base on which the hunting and game-­farming industry depends. “Together, we must continuously balance short-term economic objectives with long-term sustainable development and conservation objectives,” he said. “We would also want to work much closer with the industry to unlock the many opportunities for transformation, which includes among others ownership, employment, skills development and other dimensions of broadening involvement in hunting and game farming and its ancillary industries,” he said. – Roelof Bezuidenhout