Call of the wildlife

Africa's abundance of flora and fauna are a tourist draw, but one that requires protection

The vast continent of Africa is abundantly blessed with an amazing variety of wildlife and their unique habitats, which attract large numbers of tourists and wildlife enthusiasts from far and wide.

Wildlife-based tourism is particularly well developed in Africa, where the industry contributes significantly to national income and is a key foreign currency earner in a number of countries. The uniqueness of Africa as a destination for tourists comes from its endless landscapes and wild animals roaming around freely. The top 10 tourist countries in Africa in terms of tourist arrivals in 2011 and their associated receipts are closely linked to their wildlife resources.

Unfortunately, as is the case in other parts of the world, Africa's wildlife is facing an uncertain future. The sustainability of the continent's unique fauna is threatened by numerous factors, including a progressive loss of habitat due to growing demand for agricultural land and poaching to supply the apparently insatiable international demand for trophies such as rhino horns and elephant tusks.

Humans are increasingly encroaching on wildlife habitats, and animals require more territory to consume large quantities of vegetation, as is the case with elephants. The problem is exacerbated by reduced vegetation and climate change.

Despite enhanced wildlife protection in Africa, demand for trophies has been increasing, leading to the sophistication and militarization of poaching. For example, the demand for rhino horns for use in traditional eastern medicines and as dagger handles remains large.

Prices of up to $40,000 a kilo have been recorded for the much-prized rhino horn - more than five times the price of gold. And it is this that tempts poachers (usually criminal gangs, for whom the reward is enormous) to risk being killed for illegally hunting rhinos.

In the wake of the rising poaching epidemic, wildlife organizations across the globe have been seeking justice for these species and ramping up protection efforts. There is a frantic effort among African governments to halt the decimation of wildlife. Today, many non-governmental organizations are dedicated to protecting and conserving Africa's wildlife and their habitats.

Across Africa, a broad range of measures and actions, including new policies and laws, are being developed in response to these wildlife conservation challenges. In many cases critical wildlife ecosystems straddle national boundaries, which is problematic when policies and approaches to dealing with human-wildlife conflict vary on either side of the border.

In 2011 presidents of five countries - Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe - signed a treaty establishing a huge protected region. Governments worldwide are also stepping up their efforts to promote wildlife protection in Africa. The African Wildlife Foundation and World Wide Fund for Nature are working together with the people and governments of Africa to ensure that the wildlife and wild lands of the continent will endure forever.

Many African countries are reworking their wildlife policies to deal with the persistent and emerging challenges. In Kenya, a new policy document seeks to balance the needs of the people with opportunities for sustainable wildlife conservation and management countrywide.

There is mainstreaming of wildlife conservation into national land-use systems; the provision of appropriate incentives and user rights to communities and other stakeholders to promote sustainable wildlife conservation and management; innovative measures to mitigate human wildlife conflict; and regional and international cooperation in the conservation and management of shared wildlife resources.

Many African countries have found it difficult to address increasing pressures for compensation. Such pressures are frequently coupled with dissatisfaction regarding the considerable revenue that is derived from wildlife and is reserved for state or local authorities. This issue is being addressed through the establishment of the Wildlife Compensation Fund to broaden the financial resource base for compensation of wildlife damage to humans, crops, livestock and property in several countries.

In some African countries the lists of protected species have been set out in the principal legislation itself. Examples of this approach may be found in Benin, Mauritania and Cameroon. In Botswana, the lists specify "protected game animals" and "partially protected game animals". In other cases, the measures for wildlife protection allow more flexibility in the determination of species that require particular protection. This is the case in Malawi and Uganda. Among the purposes expressly stated in the law of Malawi is the conservation of wildlife so that the abundance and diversity of species are maintained at optimum levels to support sustainable utilization.

The key elements of community-based conservation programs are that local communities participate in wildlife resource planning and management and that they gain economically from wildlife utilization. In part, such programs are seen as an alternative to the more exclusionary protectionist policies of government authorities, which often tend to alienate rural people from wildlife conservation efforts.

Experiences in many parts of Africa suggest that such programs can work to produce a better relationship between wildlife and local people. Skeptics, however, suggest that only a vast improvement in the lives of rural people will ultimately produce a more secure future for the continent's wildlife.

In addition, private game ranching and breeding has also become an important measure for the protection and conservation of wildlife in Africa. In southern Africa alone, there are now 10,000 to 14,000 private ranchers who promote and protect wildlife enterprises by themselves or in tandem with domestic livestock.

The author is senior research fellow of the Institute for Development Studies of the University of Nairobi. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily 03/15/2013 page7)