HUNTing for sustainability
-the workpackages

At present our knowledge regarding hunting and biodiversity is mostly limited to single disciplinary or single area case studies, as few interdisciplinary studies specifically address the issue of hunting in relation to biodiversity.

 

Over a period of three years HUNT will bring together four different study disciplines through separate, but closely integrated, work packages; sociology, political science, social economics and ecology in order to reduce this knowledge gap, exploring the wider meaning of hunting across a range of study sites in Europe and Africa.

 

Different meanings attributed to hunting by different social groups and different localities will be examined from the sociologist’s point of view, whereas political scientists will investigate how institutional arrangements and authorities influence hunting.The socioeconomic aspect will use economic tools to provide yet another angle on the societal role of hunting. And finally, the ecological component of HUNT considers the sustainability of different harvesting strategies and impacts of managing for hunting on wider biodiversity.

 

Comparing different research fields in this manner is a highly original approach to the issue, and will lead to increased understanding between research disciplines that are commonly isolated, and an integrated perspective on the role of hunting in a number of European and African countries.