The Uncertainty of Africa’s Future
‘Africa depends on wildlife conservation to drive economic development, not just in tourism but in fisheries, farming, and more,’ recently stated Richard Vigne, Executive Director of the Africa Leadership University’s School of Wildlife Conservation.
The continent is home to some of the world’s most iconic animals, including a quarter of all mammal species and a fifth of all bird species. An estimated 17% of its land, an area exceeding 1.6 million square miles, is protected for wildlife, harbouring diverse environments ranging from vast grasslands and snow-capped peaks to the most ancient desert and the second-largest tropical rainforest on Earth.
Almost 60% of Africa’s 1.4 billion inhabitants rely heavily on these natural resources for their livelihoods, whether for fresh water, crop pollination, or jobs through industries such as wildlife-based tourism, which generated $29 billion annually before the onset of the global pandemic.
Despite the African continent having some of the planet’s most expansive and untouched natural landscapes, they are rapidly being relinquished to economy-boosting activities such as mining, agriculture, and logging. Coupled with the climate crisis, uncertainty shrouds the future of both Africa’s people and its wildlife.
As an example, ranger reports and a new aerial survey show that hippo numbers in Uganda’s 10 national parks have declined and the bodies are often missing — a sign that poaching is on the rise.
The herbivores are known to congregate in parks, and there is a growing trend of poachers targeting them for their teeth, which are carved and traded globally as hippo ivory and for local meat consumption.
Due to female hippos typically having just one offspring every other year, the already vulnerable species can be slow to recover from population losses.
Poaching has also been a major cause of decline for both endangered savanna elephants and critically endangered forest elephants, whose collective populations have dwindled to approximately 415,000, as reported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
When looking into the driving force behind poaching, Michael Keigwin, founder of the non-profit Uganda Conservation Foundation, a partner of Tusk, says that in the case of hippos in Uganda, the effects of climate change causing a drought in the country and subsequent flooding, along with earlier pandemic lockdowns, have all strained local farming economies and other businesses, encouraging more people to poach.
Similarly, data analysed by researchers from Oxford University, the UN, and the University of Cape Town from more than 10,000 killings of elephants over nearly two decades and across 30 African countries, shows how fewer elephants were poached where humans were ‘healthier and wealthier.’
These studies prove that steering Africa towards a sustainable future now, before its nature is lost and it is too late to change the continent’s fate, requires supporting local communities to determine their own conservation and development strategies.
The Mbamba village in Mozambique is an excellent example of this. In 2012, the village leaders signed an agreement with Mariri Investimentos, an organisation that leases a 224-square-mile conservation concession surrounding the local area. Its goal is to boost the community’s income and food production and include villagers in conservation projects while allowing them to manage their essential needs such as water supply and lighting.
Because of the innovative partnership, residents can find jobs at the environmental centre and the Mpopo Ecolodge, in construction, road maintenance, and as rangers.
Since its inception, snaring for bushmeat has fallen significantly, and the number of lion prides has increased from two to seven.
Ultimately, striking a balance between humans and nature is never easy, particularly given the aggravating climate crisis. Yet, at Tusk, we are firm believers that the future of Africa can be safeguarded if we enable local people and organisations to address the threats that the continent faces.
