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Professor Richard Fynn from the Okavango Research Institute in Maun, Botswana, specializes in rangeland ecology, wildlife ecology, and conservation science. He believes that Western-based conservation paradigms, such as the idea that the African wilderness was once a vast, untouched wilderness with no influence of people, are spurious. History shows that
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The Alistair Group is committed to conservation in Tanzania. The company provides a free helicopter and pilot to safari operators and conservation agencies for anti-poaching and related activities. They concentrate their efforts primarily in Western Tanzania during the wet season, during which the use of the chopper has the most
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By Prof Brian Child There is no doubt that intact natural systems and wildlife are in serious trouble. Man’s impact on the planet is summarized by an article in Science in 2011 entitled ‘A Global Perspective on the Anthropocene’. People and farming have expanded into most corners of the
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By Hank's Voice Jaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest native felids in the Americas and third largest globally, behind tigers and lions. However, they occupy only 51% of their historical range. Although classified as "Near Threatened" on the IUCN Red List, most subpopulations outside the Amazon
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When Mayo Oldiri first started hunting in the savannah regions of Northern Cameroon, poaching was not a serious problem. Supervised by the professional hunter, unarmed game scouts were employed and were sent out in groups of six to eight carrying only machetes and axes. As the poaching increased, it became
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The Pandamatenga farming project began in 1984 when the Government of Botswana allocated an initial 25,000 hectares of virgin bush to pioneering commercial farmers. The aim was to increase the country's cereal production and boost food security. With fertile black cotton soils and an annual rainfall of
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By Prof. Brian Child As conservationists, we rush with great passion in new crusades to ‘save’ the next in a long line of threatened species or ecosystems. We lay the blame for environmental destruction at the foot of human greed, population growth, trade, or poaching and see its salvation in
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By Zig Mackintosh African traditional healer Gogo Nomsa Sibeko, who heads Nature Speaks and Responds (NPC), an organization founded in 2022 predominantly comprised of traditional female healers, was one of the speakers at the recent Snare Mitigation Symposium in Pretoria, South Africa. While traditional healers are often viewed with skepticism
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Anti-poaching operations are not just about chasing poachers through the bush. Zambeze Delta Safaris (ZDS) has several community projects to improve the livelihoods of the people in the area. One of them is beekeeping. The project is centered around the women in the community and beehives, and beekeeping training is
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The Niassa Reserve is situated in the far north of Mozambique, with the Rovuma River forming the borderline with Tanzania. It is the biggest wildlife sanctuary in the country, covering an area of about 16,200 square miles, about the size of Switzerland. Although it was proclaimed in 1954 as
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The poaching of iconic wildlife species gets most of the mainstream media’s attention. Titillating stories of rangers, armed to the teeth, chasing after poachers through the bush with their dogs, and aerial backup corroborates the Western worldview. And this is where most of the taxpayer and donor money goes
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By Ian Cox We all know how important the right to vote is, right? If asked, we will all probably reply that the right to vote in free and fair elections is what makes our country a democracy. However, how many South Africans realise they would only be half right