Chair
Professor Robert Kenward
rekeeh.ac.uk

Secretariat
c/o European Bureau for Conservation and Development
10 Rue de la Science
1000, Brussels
Belgium
Tel: ++ 32 2 230 22 28; Fax: ++ 32 2 230 8272; Email: esusgebcd.org

Geographical coverage
Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

Membership and discipline coverage
80 members, representing the following disciplines: biology; ecology; economy; law; scientists, policy advisors and administrators; and, producer interests.

Topical coverage
Agriculture and wild plants, fisheries, forestry and fungal resources, wild bird and mammal resources, watching and feeding wildlife, socio-economics and innovations.

Read more about what the ESUSG is and what it does: download - MSWord 45Kb

European Charter on Hunting and Biodiversity
The Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern, 1979) adopted on 29 November 2007 a European Charter on Hunting and Biodiversity as Recommendation 128 (2007). Download: PDF 21 Kb

This Charter (download: PDF 162Kb) combines the Malawi Principles (Ecosystem Approach) with Addis Ababa Principles and Guidelines for Sustainable Use of Biodiversity into 12 principles (socio-cultural, economic and ecological) for managing conservation through any use of wild resources. This first recognition of AAPG in a European convention produces guidelines addressed equally to regulators and practitioners, in this case for hunting and hunting tourism. However, the 12 one-line principles provide a framework for guidelines in future charters on conservation as a conservation tool

UNWIRE (Using Wild Resources Nationally across Europe)
During 2007, ESUSG surveyed 6 wildlife-related activities, including (i) hunting birds, (ii) hunting ungulates, (iii) angling, (iv) collecting fungi, (v) collecting wild plant products and (vi) watching birds. The final report for UNWIRE (download: PDF 186 Kb) records 6.6 million hunters in the EU, about 6 million bird-watchers and 24 million anglers (with possibly many more collecting fungi and wild plant products) and estimates annual spending of at least 40 billion Euros. It shows that using wildlife was associated with its increase rather than decline, and correlates change in participation, wildlife and biotopes with regulatory, financial and social factors. It contains important conclusions and considerations for policy on conserving biodiversity through use in Europe.