Govt spends millions on conservation
11 March, 2008

SANKOYO Government spends millions in nature conservation because it is profitable, says President Festus Mogae.

Speaking during his visit to Sankoyo village on Saturday, Mr Mogae said there was need for nature conservation in the sense that protected areas and animals would attract tourists into the country.

As such government has embarked on anti-poaching measures by putting Botswana Defence Force (BDF) personnel at all borderlines.

Mr Mogae told Sankoyo residents that animals, although destructive are important to Batswana, hence the need to look after animals and not kill them.

He said killing animals was detrimental to the countrys tourism because there was a likelihood of extinction.

Mr Mogae commended Sankoyo Tshawaragano Community Trust for the positive attitudes towards animals, saying community trusts were established ideally to show people the benefits of preserving animals.

The change in attitudes towards animal conservation therefore is a great achievement.

This, however, was made possible by corporation and unity that prevails in the country.

President Mogae urged the residents to work together with foreigners in running the safaris, saying that it would lift up the tourism industry.

He was responding to comments by Sankoyos kgosi Mr Timex Moalosi that through the community based resources management (CBRM), the human-wildlife conflict had been reduced.

Kgosi Moalosi also said the residents now see the importance of animals, such that we no longer see elephants as enemies, but rather part as of us.

Mr Moalosi also said since they could not engage in cattle and crop farming, the community trust currently manages Santawana lodge and Kaziini camp site both of which were situated in Moremi Game reserve.

The lodge and the campsite were 100 per cent locally owned, and employed Sankoyo residents.

Regarding the campsite, Kgosi Moalosi said they rent it out to Safaris and gave out the returns back to the community either by donating to the elderly, or even training some youth up to tertiary institutions.

On other issues, Kgosi Moalosi commended President Mogae for abiding by the law and serving only two terms as stated in the Constitution.

Unlike other presidents in some countries, Mr Mogae has shown respect for the law. He said the President would be remembered for the fight against HIV/AIDS. BOPA

quote:

He said killing animals was detrimental to the countrys tourism because there was a likelihood of extinction.

I don't want to read too much into this, but it is somewhat alarming. He may just be referring to the killing of animals in the context of local human-wildlife conflicts or maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Brett

As usual, the logic is mumbo-jumbo. . .

Just look at how well this has worked for Kenya! All those photo safaris bringing in more money then hunting safaris, political stability, and a wonderful increase in their wildlife populations.

Oh wait, none of that happened!

quote:

Originally posted by GeoffM24:
Just look at how well this has worked for Kenya! All those photo safaris bringing in more money then hunting safaris, political stability, and a wonderful increase in their wildlife populations. Oh wait, none of that happened!

Yea, and as soon as there is any instability they stay away in droves, unlike the hunters who talk ourselves into considering it part of the adventure.

Botswana has always looked at itself as somewhat of a leader in the safari industry...It's not exactly a country that could be described as a "follower," in reference to the modern safari industry. It marches to the beat of its own bongo. While we as safari hunters casually would like to brush the above remarks off as weak threats, we have to take such remarks more seriously than that.

The reality here is, that our way of hunting in Africa is being seriously challenged right now. From Tanzania, to Zimbabwe, to Botswana up and down the continent there is a movement that could severely impact our hunting ways. Forget "could", it is impacting our ways.

For us to minimize is as just some hierarch flexing his voicebox---is the wrong thing to do. Let's not be ostriches with our heads in the sand. Our dad's and grandfather's thought the same of Kenya in 1976 when these same types of statements were emanating from that country. Then bam in 1977 Kenya was closed! Since then non-consumptive wildlife watching has become that country's second largest but best known industry.

I don't want to sound like an alarmist. I want us to be realistic. There is a problem many of today's African leaders have with the safari hunting industry.

Moja

Where Botswana’s heading in terms of hunting is, in my opinion, a little murky. The in-coming President, Ian Khama, son of the 1st President Sir Seretse Khama and hereditary chief of the largest group within the Tswana tribe, will rule with considerable power. And he’s not a fan of hunting. I believe he will do what he thinks if right, but as with many in power, what they think is right isn’t always what’s “really†right.

DWNP stopped lion hunting for 2007 and cut the leopard quota (a friend is email a DWNP statement on the issue but have yet to receive it). My view of how they decide on quota number is that it’s more driven by economic parity among concessions then animal population estimates. The quota was 50 duiker in the concession area KD1 which is the size of Connecticut. I saw that many on a day’s drive in to Ukwe, a small village there.

However, hunting provides the lion’s share, pardon the pun, of the income to Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) projects in Botswana. While the lodges in the parks and reserves can run photo only safaris and also a few of the concessions around the prime locations in the Delta can too, most community owned areas have lesser game densities and scenic value. KD1 for example has only one potable borehole which serves Ukwe and the other two villages need drinking water trucked in. The game is spread out of hundreds of square miles. There is really no way for photographic safaris to make money there, hunters have a difficult time of it already.

There are strong economic interests in Botswana for keeping hunting open and game farming is being encouraged with many influential people invested. We can only hope that Khama will not let his personal view of hunting cloud his understanding of the value of hunting to the country as a whole.

If any of you guys out there have any pull with SCI, they should start lobbying ASAP with Khama. I for one am holding my breath on this issue.

Peter Durkin
African Excursions

I almost choked on my coffee a few months back when the outfit I had been working with announced that they were going "green" and would no longer take hunting clients. And this was a fenced plains game operation!! It seems that even former hunters are turning their backs on the industry. In three years, there won't be a blade of grass (well there isn't much anyway in that area) if they don't take off animals. Or introduce big cats.

Hey, they're just trying to save all of the fauna for the poachers. . .Can't blame them can you?

Guys, where there is smoke there is a fire ?

I have heard from a couple of Botswana based operators that the neighbourhood rumour has that Khama is in the pockets of GREENPEACE, in so much that the was instrumental in banning the lion hunting ?

How much is true , who knows, all I know is everytime I go there, which is quite often too say, the rumours of a hunting ban when he becomes President is more and more.

I was there in 87 when the Bots gov refused too push down the buffalo fence in the drought so the wildebeest could move south to central Kalahari for feed and water, thousands died on the fence. they, did not give a s#@$@$%

They have taken Sitatunga lion and I think sable of the list, but in a commercial cooton farm at Pandamatenga a chap I know shot 57 sable in one year on crop damage permit ????

I will put some whiskey down that Khama will ban or severely restrict hunting

Peter: Nice comments and you're correct in what you wrote. You hit on exactly what is the issue: President Khama's personal and idealogical views on hunting regardless of the economic data.

Moja

To add to what Russ Gould said, a game farmer I book for signed an agreement with a photographic safari agent and stopped hunting. The game farmers in Botswana haven’t marketed themselves very well. I approached the Kalahari Game Farmers Association in 2005 before I moved back to the US to see if we could collectively the area. I got nothing. The Boer farmers are a great bunch of guys, enjoyed have boerwors and beer with them, and they know how to farm but they couldn’t see the reasoning to put up some money to get the word out about their operations. They spend thousands on fencing, a nice camp, grading the fence lines, but marketing? There seems to be the impression in developing countries that tourism (and hunting is tourism) is the answer but nobody’s going to visit you if they’ve never heard of you, or can’t find you on the web, or can’t contact you, and on and on. I’ve tried to market them on my own but it’s expensive and takes time.

If the game farmers in Botswana don’t start generating income then they’ll have no political voice – money talks – no matter where you are. Ostrich farming has pretty much failed. They built a big abattoir to export ostrich meat to the EU and now it slaughters cows.

So, if you guys want hunting to continue in Botswana, head to a Botswana game farm. There are Rowland Ward kudu dying of old age all over the place.

Peter
African Excursions

quote:

So, if you guys want hunting to continue in Botswana, head to a Botswana game farm. There are Rowland Ward kudu dying of old age all over the place.

Durkin is right. I have never seen so many big Kudu in my life as around Ghanzi. My ph even told me when they have a hard year, he picks up 60" kudu horns.

If this new president, or any leader of any African nation for that matter, is in fact in the pocket of Greenpeace or any such organization, then it is likely that it will go the way of Kenya. Simply put, we have to outspend the bastards, so that the hunting of African animals remains a viable economic proposition. I have often wondered if the motivation of the Tanzanian fee increases were not somehow instigated by one of these anti-hunting organizations. I know how the cost of a safari can make the average hunter contemplate going or not, but if we want a future involving hunting, I believe we need to start now. Even in Zimbabwe, where things are so uncertain; if they know where their bread is buttered, they will hopefully leave the hunting alone.

With Festus Mogae stepping down in favor of Seretse Ian Khama, does anyone expect further changes to the safari industry now or is the belief that Khama was in a postion to put forward his changes before as the putative president elect and thus no new actions are likely at present?

Botswana's president steps down

A freelance PH that works in Bots told me recently that a leopard ban or severe restriction in quota is coming soon to Bots. From what I understand, leopard quota are already very low there.

quote:

Originally posted by yukon delta:
A freelance PH that works in Bots told me recently that a leopard ban or severe restriction in quota is coming soon to Bots. From what I understand, leopard quota are already very low there.

The Hunting Report has reported that as a done deal:

The other big development this week is the closure of leopard in Botswana effective with the 2009 season. The closure does not affect 2008 safaris. We are still digging on this story, seeking to find out why the closure has been enacted. More details as they become available.

I missed that news but it certainly validates what was told to me before SCI.

Over the years Botswana has been taking more and more species off license. This will certainly not change with the ascent of Ian Khama, but Botswana is not Zim so he will have to deal with the fact that hunting has been a critical part Botswana's economic health. My guess, which is worth what you paid for it, is that plains game hunting will continue to migrate to private game farms but the Government will find it hard to replace the revenue/ low impact of hunting. That plus the over population of elephants will keep elephant open. I would bet that buffalo stays open also, but I wouldn't plan on taking a cat in Botswana.

One hunt I have seriously considered is a tracking eland & kudu hunt with the Bushmen. As I understand it, the PG in Bots is in very good condition.

In response to TerryR, hunting provides almost nothing to Botswana’s economics. While I’m a big proponent of using hunting as income generation – see above postings – Botswana’s diamonds provide the vast, vast majority of their wealth. In fact the 2nd biggest income producer for the country is the interest on the money in the bank. Tourism as a whole only generates 12% on GDP. I only hope that Botswana will use scientific evidence to make its decisions.

From what I’ve been told by a friend in Botswana so take this all as gossip, the problem is that there is a lack of data on leopards and the issue with lion appears to be two things – 1st is the perception that that pride males are being shot and I have not knowledge of facts on this and 2nd is that the lions in Tuli Block are “venerable†and that lion numbers overall are dropping. The Botswana Wildlife Producers Association and I assume Botswana’s PHs are trying to work with the DWNP to come to a some sort of reasonable way to address the issues.

For Yukon Delta – hunting eland and kudu with the Bushmen is the coolest thing going in my experience check out African-excursions.com

Peter Durkin
African Excursions

I think that there is always going to be a conflict in conservation between hunters and non-hunters. I have discovered that, and am sure that safari-operators too have realised that clientelle are often quite different (and often mutually exclusive) between say photographic safaris and hunting safaris. I think that it is down to people differing in perceptions, etc. I think that many hunters would probably enjoy doing a bit of photography, game drives etc, but the converse is not always true. The fact is, there is money and advertising (which is highly important, as others have stated above) in the non-hunting photographic safari business, and although trophy fees do not come in to the equation, there are always numbers and their accumulation, which add up to statistics.

I think that hunting over a large area should always be sustainable, and a high-income business, especially in Bots. This also involves lots of research. I think that at the moment, there is a bit of a question (especially over lion-hunting) and whether it has an impact on demographics of their population. This is due to the fact that mature (4+yr) old males are sought after by trophy hunters, which due to mature males' nature of killing cubs when taking over a pride. Hunting might appear to have some negative impact on adult male ranges, extending it for immature males at least. This is all preliminary stuff, so should not be seen as anti-hunting propaganda. It seems that in the Hwange area of Zim the ranges of adolescent males appears to be much larger and wider than than other regions in Southern Afica, including the Kalahari! This would probably not occur if there were a larger population of adult male lions, that would prevent the free wandering of immature males looking for females from other prides to mate with. As I said this is prelim stuff, and may have nothing to do with hunting, but hunting does seem to be one explanation, as Hwange is not fenced and surrounded by hunting concessions. It does highlight the importance of sustainability and the importance of research.

Going back to Botswana, I am sure that the government realises the importance of hunting and the money it generates. I am sure that hunting generates more income per capita there than any other form of torism, but it all lies in the hands of the government really at the end of the day.

I think it's interesting that a lion hunt for well north of 100k primarily goes into the local tribal economy. Rann and Calitz are not clearing that kind of money on lions. It comes in and goes right back out with much of it going for the lion fee from the local council (as I understand it). Of course, a lion hunt requires multiple PH's, multiple bakkies, large staff, etc. and none of that is cheap.

That's a lot of money going into an economy that is NOT used to seeing anything. I'm sure the local governments are not happy about the changes.