Abstract
Hunting is a unique form of activity in rural areas with a high proportion of forest areas, which involves nature conservation and meets social needs for recreation and the preservation of traditions while being an important part of economic activity. The presented study results, based on a literature review and questionnaire surveys conducted among hunters associated in hunting clubs in the north-eastern part of Poland, provide the basis for a discussion on the socio-economic significance of hunting, both in the country and throughout the European continent. Based on the results presented in the paper, it can be concluded that the number and density of hunters differ in individual countries. Moreover, hunting is practised in Europe by almost 7 million people, of which 127,000 are in Poland, and is a typical male activity. Most hunters in Poland and other European countries are professionally active inhabitants of rural areas, aged approximately 50 years, with several years of shooting experience and an income exceeding average values. Hunting is an important part of socio-economic activities, particularly in rural areas. It is estimated that in the EU alone, hunting can be worth approximately EUR 16 billion, and creates 100–120 thousand jobs. The most recent results of studies conducted in certain EU countries and the wide range of services provided by the hunting sector indicate that these values may be considerably higher. Regarding Poland, despite the centralised game resource management system, there are no extensive studies of the economic significance of hunting, and the official data are limited to a few basic indices related to hunting statistics. As indicated by the study results presented in this paper, in Poland, hunting-related expenditures are clearly lower than the European average and, thus, the economic significance of hunting is relatively low in this country. Despite this, it is a hunting community that, as a result of the adopted system solutions, is responsible for the functioning of reasonable game management while significantly affecting the management of the vast majority of rural areas.
Highlights
Despite the centralised game resource management system, there are no extensive studies of the economic significance of hunting, and the official data are limited to a few basic indices related to hunting statistics
As indicated by the study results presented in this paper, in Poland, hunting-related expenditures are clearly lower than the European average and, the economic significance of hunting is relatively low in this country
There are 127,426 hunters in Poland (i.e., 1.9% of all the hunters registered in the EU), associated in 2705 hunting clubs that lease
Summary
Hunting raises a lot of legal and ethical controversies in many social circles ( as regards trophy hunting), and there is no convincing evidence that recreational hunting contributes to sustainable conservation tasks in each case [6,7,8,9], it should be noted that in all European countries, irrespective of the motivation and acceptable methods, it is a legal way to harvest wild natural resources. There are a number of legal documents (directives) which, in many cases, are the result of international agreements and the acts derived from them (regulations and decisions) that affect the internal law of each participating EU country. They primarily govern the rules for hunting management and the hunting methods for the sustainable (reasonable) use of natural resources. This primarily applies to the implementation of the so-called Nature Directives (the “Birds” and “Habitat” Directives [10,11])
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