Hannes Wessels There ARE other models of successful wildlife conservation in the region where social and economic factors are better balanced than Musingashi, including many of the Namibian Community Conservancies and a few robust Campfire set ups in Zim. In Zambia Im not sure its as simple as bringing back the big bwana hunters- Until the ban in 2012, hunting in the 31 GMAs was lucrative enough to keep hunting companies viable and the fees helped the wildlife authority ZAWA pay their bills. A percentage even went back to local communities as an incentive to conserve although in most cases distribution of benefits was poor due to weak democracy in Community Resources Boards CRBs leaving the majority disconnected from the quid pro quo arrangement. A few companies re-invested their profits into conserving their areas but sadly most did not and generally wildlife numbers were on a steadily decline. My worry was and is with the QUOTAS- It is clear that quotas were set to meet the demand for money rather than sustainable off-take. Adding non-resident, local and safari quotas together, total off-take was about 10x more than standard sustainable off-take figures and this does not account for illegal off-take.... The suspension of hunting has left ZAWA and CRBs broke and now the government has decided to re-tender the 21 areas that were up for renewal, presumably to help ZAWA pay the bills again because there has been no stakeholder discussion over improving the model. If quotas are set as they were wildlife will continue to decline- if they are brought down to sustainable figures (10% of what they were) then I cant see many ethical companies bidding. I would urge GRZ and ZAWA to consider a more holistic approach where the other resources, fish and forestry, are brought into the GMA economy along with highly profitable regenerative agricultural technologies that are spreading like wildlife. There are also some good non-consumptive tourism proposals in some key areas that should be considered- three or four wildlife/photographic/adventure/cultural enterprises can realise far more income and employ more local people than a hunting operation running at 10% of the previous quotas. At Grassroots Trust we believe the key to a viable future is involving all stakeholders in planning and decisions. Starting with a blank sheet of paper offers the best hope of arriving at a model that makes money for everyone while regenerating the eco-system!
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 04:06:23 +0000