As we are starting to discuss the same question whether hunting now is an integral tool in wildlife conservation or not, rather than finding solutions for the different situations I have decided to create this topic to help differenciating between the different circumstances and collect ideas / knowledge / experiences on how poaching can be stopped within National Parks.

Feel free to chip in anything you know or can think of that might help reducing poaching.

Bring Dr. Leakey back! Shoot to kill anyone found poaching or snaring. Might not be a deterrant for a lot of people for awhile. But it is one poacher with a bullet in his head who will never poach again. When this has happened enough times, the news gets out and people understand what will happen, hopefully they will give second thoughts to their dastardly deeds.

Sorry to sound so cruel but liberal attitudes are what is ruining this country and so much of the world today. The attitude that everyone should be able to do "their thing" with no consequences has got to change.

I agree with the "shoot to kill" policy for trophy poachers and for commercial meat poachers. Subsistence poaching and other forms of poaching like fishing, honey, etc might need a different approach. Having said this, the liberals will have a field day with such a policy crying out for human rights violations and barbarism by Gov.

i think one of the problems faced by bodies in charge of controlling and running national parks seems to be one of lack of funding. Whether caused by embezzelment of moneys, corruption, greed, misuse or the mere fact that moneys collected go to central treasury and only a fraction comes back to cover operating costs is unclear. Certainly if the latter is true it needs to be reversed immeadiately. The selous Game Reserve in Tanzania is the 2nd largest protected area in the world approximately 50,000 km2. Until 2 years ago, it was managed under a cooperation agreement with the German foreign technical aid dpt (GTZ) whereby they ensured that 50% (I believe this figure to be correct) of earnings generated by the reserved were retained by the reserve Management to cover operational budgets. The reserve was self sufficient and had a budgetary surplus. Its proof that it can work! I can understand some of the lesser frequented parks not generating enough to cover its costs but for the rest there seems to be sufficient funds. Clean up that aspect of operations and it should make a difference.

bwanamich:

We agree again!!

I suspect you are right on about the park fees either being embezzled or going into the general fund so the government can use it for whatever it wishes. When you consider the huge amounts that some of these parks take in, and other than KWS expenses, not much is being expended, it is understandable why there are problems. And, you have to add to the intake whatever funds the parks/reserves get from camps/lodges who are leasing property!

It is too bad that there isn't some way a law could be passed that all funds deposited by tourists coming to see wildlife, must be used to protect the wildlife and the infra-
structures of the parks/reserves. If this were happening, it would in addition result in plenty of money to allow the parks to hire more people living in the buffer zones thereby helping conserve the wildlife.

The problem is, how do you ever get the govenment to allow that?

The issue I see is that Gov need to have an incentive to protect or set a side large tracts of land and that incentive is revenue. If wildlife only provided revenue for the subsistence of the protected area in question, it is not enough for Gov. There needs to be a surplus going to gov and that amount has to be equal to or at least competitive with what other forms of land use may generate for Gov if applied in the same area.

I can not imagine that all revenue created by a national park goes back into the subsistence of it - and - the Gov also receives tax from all turnover made. Considering the Camp/Lodge prices, this must be a considerable amount, too.

If the Gov would close the holes that drain the income rather than increase park entrance fees to compensate the damage, there would be more than enough money made.