EURO-MPs today voted to take urgent measures to stamp out the illegal trade in endangered species as poached 'bushmeat' in response to the most widely supported petition to the European Parliament.
Green Party MEP Jean Lambert, a member of the committee which received the 1.9 million-signature petition, said: "The European parliament has voted to stamp out the import and sale of illegally poached wildlife as meat in the EU and work closely with international agencies and developing nations to stamp out the poaching of wildlife that fuels the trade."
The trade in bushmeat has escalated in recent years, due to increased urban demand, use of modern weapons and hunting methods by poachers, logging and mining operations encroaching on forested areas and wildlife habitats and the development of highways in forested areas. Evidence suggests increasing quantities of endangered wildlife are being sold as a luxury meat in the EU.
Animal welfare organisations have warned the sale of bushmeat poses a threat to endangered species and encroaches on the resources on which forest-dwelling peoples depend.
"Logging companies are responsible for opening up forested areas and encouraging the use of bushmeat as an apparently free and readily available food source for their workers. Today's decision means such irresponsible activity could limit loggers' access to EU markets," Mrs Lambert, London's Green Euro-MP, told fellow MEPs in Strasbourg.
"Wildlife must be seen as valuable assets shared by
us all and not expendable, expensive luxuries for the few. We must educate both
consumers and suppliers of illegal bushmeat in the EU and keep the bushmeat trade
out
of Europe."
ENDS
For more information please contact Ben Duncan on 020 7407 6280, 07973 823358 or at press@greenmeps.org.uk