He Provincial Fair and Congress Center of Jaén welcomes throughout the weekend the 16th edition of Ibercaza, the Hunting and Fishing Fair of the province of Jaén, with the participation of 80 exhibitors.
Ibercaza 2024 strengthens its hegemony as one of the main hunting and fishing fairs on the national and international scene and promotes one of the most representative sectors of the provincial economy since Jaen This is the province where hunting activity has the most weight, since 12% of its territory is dedicated to the hunting and concentrates 14% of the hunting area of Andalusia.
The Minister of Sustainable Development and Environment of the Government of Andalusia, Catalina García, who was responsible for opening this essential trade fair for the hunting sector, welcomed The Andalusian Hunting Plan“a document established for the next ten years “which will undoubtedly improve the services that the Administration provides to hunters.”
This plan update information about hunting species and populations and which, in addition, serves to promote research and the quality of hunting practice, by proposing planning to ensure a social, sustainable and responsible activity in the sector.
The advisor highlighted, on the one hand, the economic and social importance of hunting in Andalusia and, on the other, the commitment of the Andalusian Government to this activity, “which has been demonstrated with the approval a year ago of the Andalusian Plan and with the fact that its development is so satisfying.
Garcia defended “the work of hunters to maintain the rich natural heritage that Andalusia has and the close collaboration it maintains with environmental agents.
This sector employs approximately 45,000 people in the community, of which more than 12,000 are directly employed, This is why he insisted on the fact that “it is an economic engine of rural areas, since the indirect services associated with it mobilize between 1,900 and 3,500 million euros per year. Among these advantages, approximately 200 million on average are generated each year in the province of Jaén.
Development of plans
During this first year of validity of the document, the processing of orders planned in the short term has begun, among which, the draft order which sets the standards for genetic certification of red-legged partridge farms (Alectoris rufa) and common quails (Coturnix coturnix), which produce specimens for release or repopulation in the wild and the genetic control systems of these species in Andalusia are validated.
Furthermore, the head of Sustainable Development and the Environment stressed that the draft decree establishing the Accreditation and functions of predator hunting controllers and the capture methods that must be used to capture them in Andalusian territory are approved.
In the same spirit, he recalled that “work continues to advance the implementation of digital tools in matters of hunting, fishing and biodiversity” and highlighted the strengthening achieved in the structure and functions of the Andalusian Institute of Hunting and Fishing of Andalusia (IACP)as a body for coordinating and developing regulations and planning for hunting activities, as well as hunting and fishing services for territorial delegations.
The advisor explained that “moreover, work is underway to speed up the procedures for awarding hunting exploitation rights in the public forests of Andalusia and to resolve the cases quickly and to do so before the start of the hunting season, and this has come to fruition, in the processing of the national animal welfare law, the defense and recognition of the essential nature of auxiliary animals for the practice of hunting. “We are talking about dogs, ferrets, falconry birds, cymbellas and calls,” he said.
Furthermore, the head of sustainable development and environment clarified that “The Plan includes the promotion of animal health of wild game species” and specified that “health status control is essential to avoid the transmission of diseases not only between animals but also to humans”, specifying that “this plan recognizes hunting as a tool for population management and as a means of active and passive surveillance of the natural environment.
Catalina García said that “this document has made a qualitative leap, which places hunting activity at the centre of the European Union’s working groups because the decisions of the Commission and the United Nations are based on territorial contributions and we are talking about a sector deeply rooted in Andalusia. It is not in vain – he clarified – that it brings together 256,000 Andalusians who hunt on more than 80% of Andalusian territory.
Andalusian pact for hunting
During her speech, the councillor also referred to the Andalusian Pact for Hunting, signed by the Junta de Andalucía and the Andalusian Hunting Federation, which she highlighted as “in just one year,more than half of the agreements were respected that he is considering, while virtually all of the acquired commitments are being processed, most are very advanced.
