The Wildlife Game
ProfessorKeithSomerville is a member of
the Durrell Institute of Conservation and
EcologyattheUniversityofKent,wherehe
teachesattheCentreforJournalism;heis a
FellowoftheZoologicalSocietyofLondon,
a Seniorresearchfellowat theInstitute of
Commonwealth Studies at the University
of London, and a member of the IUCN
Sustainable Useand Livelihoods Specialist
Group(SULi).Hisbook,Ivory,Powerand
PoachinginAfrica, waspublishedin 2016,
and his new book, Humans and Lion.
Conflict,ConservationandCoexistence,
is being published by Routledge in July 2019.DrJohnLedger is anindependentconsultant
andwriteronenergyandenvironmentalissues,
based in Johannesburg, South Africa. John.
[email protected]to lambast the Tsholotsho Rural District
CouncilinZimbabweforspendingincome
fromelephanthuntingquotaona newfootball
stadium, roads and other infrastructure
projects.Thisstatementignoresthecrucial
roleofincomefromhuntinginsupporting
poor rural communities, improving their
infrastructure and amenities directly from
money raised through sustainable use of
wildlife.Insodoing,revenuefromhunting
makeswildlifeofgreatvalueandobviousto
people andincreasestoleranceand a sense
of ownership. Without community buy-
in andbenefit,wildlifewilljust disappear,
especially dangerous game and species
that destroycropsorkill livestock,andso
actuallyimpoverishpeople.
ProfessorSomervillesaystheploybythe
‘CampaignAgainstTrophyHunting’tohitch
theworkofconservationscientistsandthe
IUCNtoitsbandwagonis totallyfalse,and
theattemptbyitsauthorstogaincredibility
inanunderhandandunsupportablefashion
asblindinglyobvioustoanyonewhoknows
aboutconservation.
DrDavidMacdonaldofWildCRU,ina
scientificstudycommissionedbytheBritish
government and published in December
2016,madeit crystalclearthat:
“There is little evidence that trophy
hunting has substantial negative effects at
a national orregionallevel.Wheretrophy
hunting is well-regulated, transparent and
devolves sufficient authority to the land
managers,it hasthepotentialtocontribute
tolionconservation”.
Hegoesontocallfortrophyhuntingto
becarriedoutwithclearprinciplesofgood
governance,andthatinsuchcircumstances,
wherecorruptionis rootedoutandhunting
is properly regulated that: “The most
fundamental benefit of trophy hunting
to lion conservation is that it provides a
financialincentivetomaintainlionhabitat
thatmightotherwisebeconvertedto non-
wildlifelanduses.”
TheIUCNhasa clearpositionontrophy
hunting in its 2016 ‘Briefing Paper for
EuropeanUnionDecision-makersregarding
potential plans for restriction of imports
of huntingtrophies. Informingdecisionson
trophyhunting.’
“Well-managed trophy hunting, which
takesplaceinmanypartsoftheworld,can
anddoesgeneratecriticallyneededincentives
and revenue for government, private, and
community landowners to maintain and
restorewildlife asa land useand to carry
out conservation actions (including anti-
poaching interventions). It can return much-neededincome,jobs,and otherimportant
economicandsocialbenefitstoindigenous
andlocalcommunitiesinplaceswherethese
benefits areoftenscarce.In manypartsof
theworldindigenousandlocalcommunities
have chosen to use trophy hunting as a
strategy for conservation of their wildlife
and to improve sustainable livelihoods”.http://www.royalkaroo.com | +27 82 496 4398 | [email protected]