One with Nature 2021: Finally in motion

Fifty years after the success of the legendary 1971 World of Hunting Expo in Budapest, Hungary once again took its rightful place on top of the hunting-conservationist world on Saturday morning.

At the ceremonial opening, in front of sculptor Gábor Miklós Szőke’s “Totem” — a several-floors-tall stag statue made from 10 tons of fallen antlers — Archduke Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen, the exhibition’s patron, said that the One with Nature 2021 World of Hunting and Nature Exhibition “comes at an extremely timely moment, when there is a lot of discussion about hunting and nature.” Citing a definition of culture from cultural anthropologist Lord Raglan, the archduke said that “culture is roughly everything we do but monkeys don’t.” When we are talking about hunting and conservation, he added, we are not simply talking about nature, but also culture.

“Where I see the role of this exhibition is to create a bridge between culture and conservation, and along this bridge, we find our passion that is hunting,” the archduke said.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, who is also the president of the Hungarian National Hunting Association, the selection of programs at the World Expo aspires to cover the entire spectrum of fields related to hunting and nature, such as science, gastronomy, sports and arts. Zsolt Semjén addressed the audience at the freshly renovated Hall C conference center following a short stroll among the representatives of regional hunting organizations.

While it’s in man’s fundamental nature to hunt, Semjén noted that today we are at a disadvantage compared to the organizers of the 1971 World of Hunting exhibition. In his view, this is mainly due to three reasons: the anti-hunting attitude of mainstream media and politics; the consequent manipulations of certain Hungarian politicians and media figures; and the coronavirus pandemic.

“We not only have to deal with green ideology, but with dark green ideology. We can make a sharp distinction between our green friends who make laudable efforts to protect nature, and “eco-terrorists’’ of the dark green ideology – who often tend to be anti-human,” the deputy PM said.

Meanwhile, George Aman, President of the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation, said that for hunters there is a continuous need to act, because without nature there is no wildlife, and without wildlife there is no hunting. At a time when the people of the world are growing increasingly detached from nature, Aman added, it is particularly important to host events, like One with Nature 2021, that help us communicate our actions in the right way.

Between September 25 and October 14, besides national stands, HUNGEXPO’s Hall A will host the World Conservation Forum, a platform for experts in the field of hunting, wildlife management and nature conservation to have their voices heard.

Two exhibitions, FeHoVa Plus and the National Agriculture and Food Exhibition and Fair (OMÉK), will occupy halls B and E from September 30 to October 3 and October 7–10, respectively, while Hall C hosts the Innovation Showroom. Visitors interested in angling and the underwater lives of different national parks should visit Hall D’s Fish, Water and Mankind installation. In Hungary’s largest exhibition aquarium, for example, visitors will be able to see fish up to 2 meters long and weighing 110 kilograms.

An exhibition of traditional hunting methods is set up in Hall F, while a trophy exhibition, taxidermy championships and “Hunting in the 21^st century” exhibition share Hall G.

Hall H, meanwhile, is home to the Central Hungarian Exhibition, a multilingual display that takes visitors on a thousand-year walk around the Carpathian Basin, during which they can experience how the history of the Hungarian people has become “one with nature.”

The number of visitors at the event has so far exceeded expectations, with nearly 4,000 students attending on the opening weekend alone.