Hunting, Ecology, and Ecotourism, Part 2
At the crux of the controversy over hunting being classified as an ecotourism activity is sustainable hunting. Sustainable hunting, for those who don’t know, is the practice of only hunting the amount of a species that will not adversely affect the species’ chance of continued survival. The concept is actually at the very core of most wildlife management programs already, but the actual ideas behind it can actually be found in the hunting practices of most native cultures around the globe.
An interesting fact is that, while this general concept was practiced many hundreds of years ago by natives, it was abandoned by the conquering peoples who came to their lands. As a result of ‘hunting and trapping for profit’, many species found themselves on the edge of extinction. From there, a major effort was made to reverse those devastating effects, and has proven quite successful. And in certain instances, where little to no hunting was allowed to control the growing populations, even almost too successful. So now, after hitting both ends of the spectrum, we’ve found ourselves coming back full circle to the traditional ways of thinking native cultures had to begin with.
Another interesting fact, before we move on, is that an ecological mindset is living in harmony with the planet and all the organisms that reside on it. Isn’t that, just like the concepts behind sustainable hunting, an idea that the native cultures had way before we ever worried about the environment? Maybe they weren’t the savages, or as un-enlightened, as most people considered them to be.
Ok, so I was wrong. We didn’t quite hit the subject I said we would in this post, but we will in the next. I apologize, but there is some very interesting facets of this that are worth exploring. So, look for more on this in my next post.
hunting, hunting sense, sustainable hunting, ecology, ecotourism, native cultures, native beliefs
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