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By Prof Brian Child Exchange and specialization as the basis of wealth Published in 1776, Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations. He showed that wealth is created by converting raw materials, often drawn from the environment, into goods people want. The secret to wealth creation was the productivity of
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By Mathen “Rajeev” Mathew The Wildlife Economy Forum has been hosting regular webinars for several years, creating a vital platform for free and open dialogue on the complex challenges of wildlife management, sustainable resource use, and people-centric conservation. These monthly sessions bring together scientists, policymakers, community leaders, and practitioners to
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How do you bring a wilderness back from the brink? In the Matobo Hills of Zimbabwe, the Johnson brothers and the local community are proving that passion and partnership are more powerful than a million-dollar budget. From intensive anti-poaching to the installation of vital water points, see how wildlife is
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This video offers a behind-the-scenes look at a central Operations Room (Ops Room) in LUWIRE, Mozambique, dedicated to biodiversity monitoring and anti-poaching efforts. It explores how modern technology is integrated with ground-level enforcement to protect wildlife and manage ranger patrols with precision.
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By Dr Daniel Stiles A recent study from Oxford University has revealed a severe loss of ‘wildlife power’ across Africa — the ecological energy that drives essential ecosystem functions such as nutrient cycling, pollination, and seed dispersal. This study provides hard data to support the UK’s Global Biodiversity Loss, Ecosystem
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By Zig Mackintosh Today’s anti-poaching strategies have changed from those of 10 or even 5 years ago. While rangers, trackers, and patrols are still front and center, security systems have evolved over the last decade as technology has become a crucial component. Now, command centers pull live feeds from
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Bruce Martin and Aston Sparks from Lake Albert Safaris explain how cellphones have changed anti-poaching work in Uganda's Kabwoya Wildlife Reserve, and not just for the rangers. Rangers photograph snares, log positions, and stay in touch across the remote wilderness areas. Poachers track ranger movements and shift bushmeat
Anti-Poaching in Action
Eugene Troskie has been pulling snares out of the bush around the Kruger National Park for years. This patrol with the Phalaborwa Natural Heritage Foundation (PNHF) shows what that work looks like. The footage follows Troskie and his team across difficult terrain on the Kruger boundary, locating and removing illegal
By Prof Brian Child Key Takeaways: * Because wildlife is unpriced or underpriced, the market systematically underproduces it. * Subsidies for agriculture, combined with the absence of property rights for wild resources, tilt the playing field against wildlife and produce the wrong outcomes at massive scale. * Sustainability is fundamentally an economic problem.
Reclaiming a Lost Wilderness offers a compelling look at the critical anti-poaching and conservation efforts in Tanzania's Uvinza Open Area. It features an interview with Taki Lalji, Director of Game Frontiers of Tanzania, who discusses the complex challenges facing the region's wildlife and ecosystems. Lalji explains
In the remote Northwestern Province of Zambia, professional hunter Fico Vidale manages 1,800 square kilometers of wilderness. His work in the Lunga-Busanga GMA reveals both the promise and the challenges of Zambia's approach to wildlife conservation, in which regulated safari-hunting revenue funds anti-poaching efforts. The area represents
More Boots on the Ground, but the Bushmeat Trade Thrives By Zig Mackintosh Key Takeaways: * Enforcement alone is not stopping the bushmeat trade, despite increased patrols, arrests, and seizures. * The trade persists because it is driven by strong economic incentives that far outweigh the risks. * Corruption, weak penalties, and systemic
By Dr Daniel Stiles A recent publication by Lindsey et al. reviewed evidence for lion population changes, targeted illegal killing and body parts trafficking incidents in parts of Africa. Although the article admits that “no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study", it nevertheless concludes that “Lions
By Nick Steele Nick Steele’s paper was delivered at the Natal Hunters and Game Conservation Association Congress in October 1978. At the time, Steele was serving as Conservator for the Natal Midlands region within the Natal Parks Board. He had been transferred from the Zululand reserves to the Natal
On snare-sweep patrols, the Phalaborwa Natural Heritage Foundation team sometimes comes across poachers’ camps. Eugene Troskie has found many of these camps over the years. A collared female hyaena was hanging around in a certain area for an inordinate length of time, which generally indicates an animal killed in a
The Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) at Murchison Falls HQ has warehouses filled with snares and traps confiscated from poachers. These come in all shapes and forms, from wheel-traps (gin traps) to spiked wheels. As a means of destroying them, the steel traps and snares are used as reinforcement in the
March 3rd, 2026 It’s the United Nations World Wildlife Day, and every year, the conservation world fills with messaging about protection, preservation, and the urgency of leaving nature untouched. There’s much handwringing, crocodile tears, and, of course, fundraising by the animal rights activists (ARAs). This is how their
By Prof Brian Child Wildlife and wild resources are priceless but worthless because environmentalists and economists have excluded them from the mainstream economy. Conservationists abhor the dollarization of wildlife, while economists treat the economy as a closed system, ignoring the true costs of the waste they dump into oceans, rivers,
By Zig Mackintosh In a forgotten corner of eastern Central African Republic (CAR) bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the south, South Sudan to the east, and Sudan to the north lies Chinko, a 64,000 km² wilderness. The area sits at 610 meters above sea level