At CITES 1989 the delegates were told that it would cost US $ 200 per square kilometer to protect Africa’s elephants in their natural habitats against commercial poachers. And that to similarly protect black rhinos it would cost a staggering US $ 1 200 per square kilometer. The cost of applying these protective measures to our model 20 000 square kilometer national park, therefore, would be US $ 4 million and US $ 24 million, PER ANNUM, respectively. No African government can afford these stupendous costs.

The solution to Africa’s commercial poaching problem presented above, by comparison, is both reasonable and pragmatic. It is also, by comparison, very cheap. And it WILL work. It WILL work because it removes the HIV infection from the equation and it makes the poacher communities the most important part of the solution. And the black market for ivory and rhino horn will wither away because there will be no poachers to support it.

It also has a double-barreled benefit effect because it both stops the commercial poaching in its tracks and it relieves many localized rural communities, all over Africa, of the continent’s greatest scourge – POVERTY.

It also introduces the probability that ALL those national parks that once supported black rhinos can be assured of successful re-introductions of the species. If the black rhino were included on the community levy price list – at a VERY high price – it would be greatly protected by the local communities.

They would protect the black rhinos because it would cost the community twice its high levy fee for every animal killed by a poacher. It would be protected, too, because within ten years of their reintroduction, small numbers of black rhino bulls would be available for hunting and the communities would gain hugely from the very high community levy fee for every black rhino that is then legally hunted.

The greatest of all this solution’s attributes is the fact that it deals with a uniquely African problem in a uniquely African way. It provides an African solution that WILL work in Africa. It is also a solution that is entirely sustainable BY Africa. Africa’s commercial poaching pandemic, therefore, is one problem that Africa CAN solves on its own. All it requires is society’s understanding and acceptance of the need for a paradigm shift of immense proportions – which is the tallest order of all. BUT … the benefits are immeasurable!

This entry was posted on Monday, June 28th, 2010 at 7:48 am and is filed under Ron Thomson Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.