Frank dialogue and important commitments from both conservation organisations and the hunting organisations, including the Federation National de la Chasse – characterized the two day seminar held this week in Annecy, and co-organised and facilitated by the VCF
The meeting was organized within the LIFE GYPHELP project, in which the VCF is a partner, con-sponsored by the VCF, ASTERS and the FDC74 (Hunting Federation for Haute-Savoie). During the meeting, current knowledge and best practices on the issue of lead poisoning were reviewed, and some significant recommendations were done to minimise this threat in the project area (French Alps).
During the last few years several cases of lead poisoning have been reported on vultures in the Alps, including on bearded vultures – this is a significant threat affecting this population. While there is some Background environmental lead that could also go up in the trophic chain, most evidence points out that the main source of the acute lead intoxication cases observed comes from lead ammunition used in hunting activities across the Alps.
During the two days, significant amounts of information were exchanged between conservationists, hunters, managers of protected areas, game managers and other stakeholders, and a list of concrete commitment pledged to tackle the threat.
The conclusions of the meeting, as well as all the presentations, will be published shortly in the VCF website.
