Some one said, "There are none so blind as those who WILL NOT see..

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tra...oycott-Botswana.html


Holidaymakers urged to boycott Botswana

Tourists have been urged to avoid Botswana in protest at the alleged mistreatment of the country's Bushmen.

By Jolyon Attwooll
3:37PM BST 26 Sep 2013


Survival International, which supports the rights of tribal groups around the world, accused the Botswana government of thwarting attempts to restore the Bushmen's free access to their ancestral homeland.

In a press release, it said the government’s behaviour on the issue was “disgraceful”, reserving its harshest criticism for Ian Khama, the Botswana president. Stephen Corry, Survival’s director, described his treatment of the Bushmen as “illegal, inhuman and degrading.”

Survival International said it would ask supporters to join a boycott of the country, as well as write to its minister of tourism in protest.

Campaigners have also written to tour operators including Trailfinders, Intrepid and Absolute Travel, urging them to stop running trips to the country.


The latest move was prompted by the rejection of an attempt to overturn a law requiring Bushmen to have permits to enter their traditional hunting grounds on the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).

According to Survival International, Gordon Bennett, a British attorney, had been blocked from coming into the country to help the Bushmen’s legal case.

Chris McIntyre, who runs the tour operator Expert Africa and is author of the latest Bradt guidebook to Botswana, said both the country’s government and Survival International had adopted an “unhelpful” approach at times.

“Over the years neither of them seems able to help reach a really fair and pragmatic solution which will help the day-to-day life of the poor people involved,” he said. “It's a real failure for both.”

He described the calls for a boycott as “counterproductive”, saying it would hit local people.

“One job in tourism usually supports many people in the wider community. Elsewhere in Africa, tourism is actively helping to conserve the Bushmen's traditional skills, and earning them a proper income.”

He also praised Botswana for its good schools and good social programmes, describing it as "one of the last African countries which might deserve to be penalised over human rights issues."

The issue over the Bushmen – one of several terms used to describe a broad ethnic group spread across Botswana and Namibia – has flared up over several decades.

The current conflict was triggered by a Botswana government decision to evict Bushmen from the CKGR, their traditional homeland, and re-settle them outside the reserve.

That policy was reversed by a Botswana high court decision in 2006, allowing Bushmen to return but without obliging the government to provide amenities. Gradual erosion of the Bushmen’s traditional hunter-gatherer way of life has also complicated the issue.

Survival International has previously called for a boycott of the country, back in 2010, after the government sealed off access to a borehole on the reserve.

The Botswana Tourism Organisation in London did not respond to requests for comment.

quote:

The Jouberts are only interested in lining their own pockets.

Exactly what Saeed said. P.T. Barnum once said: "There's a sucker born every minute!" Now watch the Joubert's minions line up, toast wine and pat themselves on the back. Meanwhile Dave and Bev are selling tickets by the gross. LDK

quote:

Originally posted by Kathi:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tra...oycott-Botswana.html

Holidaymakers urged to boycott Botswana

Tourists have been urged to avoid Botswana in protest at the alleged mistreatment of the country's Bushmen.

By Jolyon Attwooll
3:37PM BST 26 Sep 2013

This should be a separate discussion.

quote:

Originally posted by Jan Dumon:
Graeme , I like your post on the jouberts facebook page. Over the years I have sat at many a campfire discussing this same topic over and over. And all we do is preach to the converted. Getting the message out there about the positive role that hunting has on conservation ( or the negative role of the banning of it )is crucial. And the hunters already know it. Put it in the faces of the anti hunters , more importantly , the people who support them . There is a vast amount of people out there that are sitting on the fence. They are easily persuaded by the anti hunters to lean their way as the antis are shouting the loudest and using the media to their advantage. An article in a hunting magazine about the pros of hunting in the conservation game gains little ground in the fight. Preaching to the converted. Well balanced comments in the social media and well written articles in non hunting magazines and papers will go a long way . Getting them to publish them....
Cheers Graeme , you did well.

We do have to get the word out through non-hunting media, definitely. I very much like the fact that Ivan Carter, Dallas Safari Club and others are posting on Facebook regularly too. Some of Ivan's posts from Africa are quite poignant. The Jouberts and their ilk are not the only voices, fortunately.

We would be wise to do the same, or at least "like" the good posts and re-post them to others who would not otherwise see them. That gives a multiplier effect.

It's all the same; outlaw guns and only outlaws will have them;
outlaw hunting and only outlaws will hunt...

I guess lions get caught in poacher's leopard snares. Is there
a black market for dead lions? I assume leopard hides DO move
"underground".

Collar every big 6,7 game creature with a contraption that sends
out a signal when it's killed or stationary too long. Have Rangers
respond by air or ground at once to every such signal. Should poach-
ing be the issue, rangers address it according to law...