Seminars Held in Districts as Part of the Responsible Hunting - Protecting Biodiversity Project

On the initiative of the IDEA Public Union, seminars for local residents and hunters were held in several districts of Azerbaijan as part of the "Responsible Hunting - Protecting Biodiversity" project.

The seminars were organized on March 7 in the Ismayilli district, March 9 in the Masalli district, and March 11 in the Sabirabad district.

Representatives from the Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Public Union for Regional Development, the Military Hunting Union under the Special State Protection Service, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF Azerbaijan), as well as independent environmental experts, participated in the seminars.

Participants conducted presentations and discussions on the essence of the project, hunting seasons, and hunting laws, the nature of Azerbaijan, illegal hunting and applicable fines, ethical hunting rules, and animals included in the Red Book and those with hunting significance.

The practical part of the seminar, involving hunters, took place at the "Sarysu" Hunting Farm, located in the Imishli district.

To prevent the killing of fauna species purely for shooting interest, information was provided to hunters about shooting centers operating in Novkhany and Gabala during the practical part. They were explained that they could spend their leisure time interestingly at these shooting centers without harming fauna species. It should be noted that there are plans to open these shooting centers in other districts as well.

In total, about 200 hunters and local residents joined the seminars.

The public awareness project "Responsible Hunting" was initiated in June 2016 with the support of the Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and in partnership with the Military Hunting Union under the Special State Protection Service and the Public Union for Regional Development.

The main goal of the project is to promote responsible behavior towards nature among hunters, to prevent the killing of species whose hunting is prohibited, and to prevent environmental pollution as a result of hunting activities.

Within the framework of the project, extensive educational work on responsible hunting has been carried out among the public, especially among hunters. It should be noted that IDEA has prepared a video reflecting the hunting traditions of our country, the importance of protecting nature and biodiversity, values such as environmental protection, and dedicated to promoting responsible hunting. Additionally, for the purpose of informing the public, especially hunting enthusiasts, educational brochures such as "General Rules of Hunting," "Rules for the Use of Fish and Other Aquatic Bioresources," and "Extracts from the Red Book" were prepared and distributed by project partners.