Alaska Department of Fish and Game Partners with Conservation Visions' Wild Harvest Initiative® to Evaluate Benefits of Wild Harvested Food
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has entered into a new partnership with Conservation Visions' Wild Harvest Initiative® to determine the real economic, social, and conservation value of sustainable recreational wildlife and fish harvests in the United States and Canada.
ST. JOHN'S, July 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ - Conservation Visions is announcing a new partnership with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in support of its Wild Harvest Initiative®, the first serious effort to evaluate the combined economic, conservation, and social benefits of recreational wild animal harvests in modern American and Canadian societies. By exploring sustainable use of wildlife in the wider contexts of food security, rural economies, and human health, as well as wildlife habitat and environmental management, the study focuses on providing evidence of the wider benefits of wildlife and wild animal harvests to the public. The project will also address an important question facing North American conservation policy institutions: If hunting and angling were to cease tomorrow, what would be the consequences for nature and for people?
"The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has a mission to conserve, maintain, and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources of the state, and manage their use and development in the best interest of the economy and the well-being of the people of the state, consistent with the sustained yield principle," says Eddie Grasser, Director of the Division of Wildlife Conservation. "We are confident that the Wild Harvest Initiative® will support and advance our mission."
Shane Mahoney, President of Conservation Visions and founder of the Wild Harvest Initiative®, is excited about the new partnership. "The relevance of this research is already reflected in the project's growing list of supporters that includes state governments, the outdoor industry, conservation NGOs, and individuals," says Mahoney. "There can be no doubt of this program's potential to strengthen efforts for wildlife conservation, to build alliances in support of wildlife and wild places, to contribute to a normalizing of hunting and angling, and to encourage hunter and angler recruitment. Alaska remains an iconic symbol of vital interdependence between people, sustainable harvesting, and wildlife recovery. We are thrilled to have the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on board."
About Conservation Visions Inc.
Conservation Visions Inc. is a wildlife initiative founded by internationally recognized biologist, conservation advocate, Shane Mahoney. It is dedicated to a world where conservation matters; where biodiversity is safeguarded, including the diversity of human cultural experience; where conservation and citizenship are viewed as inseparable; where a global responsibility to nature is recognized; where the sustainable use of natural resources is safeguarded through knowledge; and where governments make sound decisions concerning conservation and biodiversity, based on scientific and traditional wisdom. To learn more about Conservation Visions and the Wild Harvest Initiative®, please visit www.conservationvisions.com.
SOURCE Conservation Visions Inc.
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