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http://www.zambianwatchdog.com/?p=147
Africans and Their Animals Can All Win
This can be controversial.
Rich hunters are willing to pay €10,000 or more to shoot an African elephant or a mature lion, money that would go a long way to supporting local livelihoods and conservation of these species but which would collide head-on with Western values on biodiversity conservation. International organisations tend to see biodiversity conservation as an end in itself but rural farmers in Africa tend to see it as a means to an end, as an investment that generates income, food or well being. The first major attempt in a decade to show how wildlife conservation and sound management can boost African development reveals plenty of win-wins, say researchers and practitioners who will unveil the results on 8th October, 2008 at the IUCN Congress in Barcelona, the Watchdog has learned. The success stories appear in the proceedings of a conference held in March, which will be launched at a side event Chaired by Juliette Biao, Minister for the Environment and Nature Protection, Benin at the invitation of the French government and attended by France’s Ambassador, Laurent Stefanini.
“Wildlife conservation and sound management can deliver development benefits for local communities in African countries,” says Nesbert Samu of the African Wildlife Foundation. “This publication shows what is possible and highlights the importance of sharing best practices between different countries and regions.”
The March conference in Niamey, Niger , was the first attempt in ten years to gather experts from French and English speaking African countries that are working on conservation and development projects.
It was organised by the Zimbabwe-based Bio-Hub initiative which regional NGOs set up in 2005 with funding from the French government (French Global Environment Facility) to promote wildlife conservation and sound management as a development opportunity and share information between projects in Eastern and Southern Africa.
“Much progress has been made in Southern Africa,” says Sebastien Le Bel, Director of the Bio-Hub programme. “We need to work out how to spread the positive lessons to West and Central Africa, which are less rich in wildlife than the East and South.”
The side event will highlight innovative community-based approaches to managing natural resources and conserving wildlife.
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