|
eNewsletter |
September 2001 |
|
|
IWMC
World Conservation Trust |
|
Sustainability of
Resources
and Management Decisions |
As
we look ahead to the next future of management and conservation of wild
resources, it is evident that there are some issues that will be in the
forefront of discussion. One of these will be the matter of uncontrolled
resource use by people who are too hungry to care about the sustainability of
their practices; they will eat today because they are terribly hungry now, and
they hope they will eat tomorrow as well. In some areas of Africa, plant
agriculture is inadequate, people do not have land tenure, and the raising of
domestic stock is out of the question, due to drought and tsetse fly
infestation. The ways in which these problems have been solved vary with the
leadership and creativity of national leaders, and the pressures that they are
under for both political and environmental reasons.
Some countries have well managed programs of game ranching. Hoofed stock,
crocodiles, ostrich, all bring in currency. There are wages for labor, and there
are meat and by-products for sale. Some nations have programs such as CAMPFIRE
that provide for both the land and the people, through a regulated process of
selective game hunts that provide meat, income, and infrastructure for the
communities.
Then, sadly, there are nations where no one has the benefits of a secure and
productive agriculture, where there is no land tenure for the common man, and no
orderly wildlife management system to benefit both people and their resources.
In those areas, there is the distressing situation described by TRAFFIC where
"bushmeat" is sought for both local immediate consumption, and for
sale, with no provision for the sustainability of the species involved.
In some areas, this rampant and uncontrolled use of "bushmeat" is
encouraged by multinational companies that have moved in to an area for logging
or mining purposes. Their workers are local people, or people who have been
moved in from far away, and the company has made no provision for food for the
labor force. It is bushmeat or nothing. This is an environmental ethics problem,
and a social ethics problem that has not been adequately addressed, in some
areas, by either government or by businesses.
It is so devastating to African species that TRAFFIC has reported that
everything from primates to antelope, birds and small game, are being trapped,
snared, and shot just to keep people alive so they can work in the timber or
mining ventures. Some hunters are supplying the needs of workers by killing
everything that moves, and by selling bushmeat more cheaply than domestic meat
can be obtained. This is not sustainable use, and it is the result of deplorable
conditions that must be corrected by responsible governments.
In some areas, it is a transportation problem, too, and there are problems
with food preservation in a hot climate. Infrastructure that is not in place
before resource extraction is allowed, will always lead to insurmountable
problems for people and their living resources. The ultimatum should be given to
those companies that have government permits to log or mine the land; provide in
a decent, legal, adequate way for the labor force, or get out. Do not force our
people to destroy our resources in the name of your profits and convenience. The
future of Africa and her people and resources is dependent on wise decisions
made by leaders today. We wish them the best as they try to solve these problems
of sustainability for their people, their land, and their resources.
This is a major problem, but this is an issue outside of the competence of
CITES, which cannot do anything but delay (by confusing the possible courses of
action) positive solutions to be developed by international institutions such as
the FAO.
|
