Friday, June 13, 2008 - Web posted at 8:46:12 GMT

Land-based game count begins

THE world's largest land-based game count began on Wednesday across a huge swath of northwestern Namibia, according to World Wildlife Fund officials who organised the count.

The annual animal census, funded by the US Agency for International Development, comes as the American agency announces that it is ending conservation funding in Namibia.

A US government official declined to say why the funding was being cut off a year earlier than scheduled.

Wildlife in Namibia has increased since the US agency began funding community conservation programmes in 1993.

To date, the United States has given US$41,6m to programmes to help people to care for natural resources and benefit from the tourism generated.

"Only a few years ago, local people viewed wildlife only as competitors for food with their goats and other livestock and as potential dangers," said World Wildlife spokesperson Chris Weaver.

"But all that has now changed."

Weaver, whose organisation manages the US funds, said the conservation programmes allowed animal species to flourish and made poaching "virtually extinct".

Weaver said conservation efforts since 1995 have increased Namibia's lion population from 30 to 130, dramatically increased the number of cheetahs, and nearly doubled Namibia's black rhino population.

Namibia had about 7 500 elephants in 1995, but now it has 26 000, he said.

Teams of game scouts, conservationists and scientists expect to find an even higher number this year.

While elephants in southern Africa were once scarce, they have made an impressive comeback.

In November, the South African government reversed a 13-year ban on elephant culling - the government-sanctioned killing of elephants under specified conditions - to help control the population.

Besides conserving wildlife, the US-funded programmes in Namibia generated income from tourism, and created 946 permanent and 6 200 part-time jobs, Weaver said.

Namibia's census will track numbers of elephants, lion, cheetah, rhino, oryx and giraffes, mountain zebras and springbok, Weaver said.

The survey covers 6 474 970 hectares of wildlife reserves, including a national park placed in a dramatic but harsh environment with towering mountains and rocky mesas, Weaver said.

US officials plan to announce the cancellation of funds in Windhoek on Thursday.

US government spokesperson Raymond Castillo would not comment on why the funding was being cut, but said the programme had been tremendously successful.

Well sure, it makes perfect sense.....save a couple of million a year on a successful program that is working so you can continue to support the Iraq screw up which is currently running something over 200 millions dollars a day. Brilliant.

Why should the US government (you and me) ever pay for this?

Thanks for the heads-up Steve...

dogcat, once again you have hit the nail on the head, eh. Gatogordo, you will get your chance in the fall and you can cast your vote for ObamaBenLoser.

DOJ,

Didn't you mean Obama Bin Laden? Why is the U.S. government paying out millions for wildlife conservation in other countries when so much work needs to be done here at home. Shows how much I know. Guess I need to keep up with this kind of stuff better.

David Walker

quote:

Originally posted by x2mosg:
Why is the U.S. government paying out millions for wildlife conservation in other countries when so much work needs to be done here at home.
David Walker

Granted, plenty of work needs done here at home. But the U.S. support of game conservation and the development of tourism based on wildlife has made Namibia one of the most stable and pro-Western countries in Africa. The $41 Million Namibian equals about $5.5 Million US that has been spent during this entire project. Making Namibia one less country where the U.S. is likely to have to send a few billion in military aid makes the $5.5 Million look like a pretty cheap investment. Besides, would you blow off all of the game in Namibia to save 18 cents apiece for the American taxpayer?

I'm not implying corruption when I say this, but I wonder how much of USAID really, really went into helping the conservation efforts in Namibia anyway.

That $41.6 million did not all go to Namibia, but rather for the USAID Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programs throughout Africa.

It's been damned effective and money well spent,

USAID`s CBNRM Program In Namibia

quote:

That $41.6 million did not all go to Namibia, but rather for the USAID Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programs throughout Africa.

It's been damned effective and money well spent,

I see. Thanks for the info.
Now that makes me mad.

Skinner,

Thanks for the website -- its a wealth of information on this (former) program and on Namibia.

If you read the websites of a couple of Namibian newspapers you'll know that the Chinese are getting more and more active there. It's a poor time for diminishing U.S. influence and good will. (And I doubt that the Chinese interests in Namibia include preservation of wildlife.)