Excerpts from the Magyar Nemzet article.
Last Thursday, the One with Nature - Hunting and Nature World Exhibition, which welcomed visitors for twenty days in the rebuilt Hungexpo area, 75,000 square meters, in six permanently operating and two intermittently operating pavilions.(...)
Hungary can be proud of the fact that scientists, experts and specialists dealing with the fauna and flora have never come together in such a large number anywhere. And it can be said not only about the organizations, presenters and participants, but also about the issues discussed, that almost every area, every little nook and cranny of this huge and extremely complex topic was covered by the deliberations of the world exhibition.(...)
It is a particular pleasure that hundreds of thousands of children and young people took part in the central event of the world exhibition and one of the accompanying programs, since it is the most difficult to appeal to them with programs outside of the stimulating online space. Not only the organizers and the visitors consider all this a success, but the silence of the opposing side also proves that they were wrong when they claimed that no one, not even the hunters themselves, are interested in the world exhibition. The results include the rare experience and learning opportunity that such a gigantic event involving all segments of society can provide. (…)
From the United States to Europe to African countries, reports have been made of attacks on hunting, of inciting campaigns that lack scientific foundations and are even outright dismissive, based solely on emotional reactions, and which, unfortunately, are successfully used to influence political decisions in many places. Their results speak for themselves. Where hunting has been banned, many animal species have been brought to the brink of extinction.
There was also a lot of talk about what tools and how to fight against the influence of public opinion and thus the influence of decision-makers. There was a unanimous opinion that it is necessary to stick to scientifically based reasoning, and at the same time help to restore the battered prestige of the sciences.
In addition, the rural and traditional way of life must be protected, those who choose it must be supported, and the people of the big cities must be made to understand that they, too, have a basic interest in the real protection of the countryside and nature that nourishes them, instead of instant internet benevolence. It is necessary to explain to people that, even if hunting is not the same as the rural lifestyle, it is an integral and indispensable part of it, without which there is no sustainable forest, field and wildlife management, and therefore no sustainable nature conservation either.
The One with Nature - World Hunting and Nature Show program series has ended, but the work that needs to be done to make it meaningful is only just beginning. If not, then we can say goodbye to the world we inherited from our ancestors.
the full article here.
Photo: Zoltán Havran
