Ecotourism providing a viable alternative to poaching, empowering the people of Africa with opportunities to preserve wildlife and escape poverty.
For impoverished communities tourism offers a future with promise, unlike the illegal wildlife trade which demands risk for reward. Those with money have power, and rarely feel the repercussions of justice—this unbalance persists under conventional approaches to conservation. Encouraging a paradigm shift by recruiting poachers to guide tourists on wildlife excursions develops their appreciation and knowledge for local wildlife whilst empowering them economically. This is the thought behind a new approach to poaching in Tanzania, lead by Chris Koslin and David Kabambo of Peace for Conservation.
In the following article, Koslin expands on the advantages of fighting poaching through ecotourism and how travellers can support the cause!
Each day 30 Elephants are killed in Tanzania. It has become a way of life for many villagers. They do not do it because they enjoy it, they do it to survive. They kill the elephant and then cut off the tusks. The tusks are sold to brokers for pennies on the dollar. Meanwhile the brokers get rich off of the ivory that remains in high demand in many countries.
The current method of stopping this problem is by attempting to catch the poachers in the act. This is a daunting task when most of the country is open space where the poachers can easily hide. The battle has recently turned deadly with the death of a British pilot at the hands of several poachers. This situation is unacceptable and will never end. There is too much land to cover and not enough rangers to cover it. Something must be done. This is where Peace for Conservation comes in.
Through a chance encounter, I met David Kabambo of Peace for Conservation and an idea was born. The only way to stop the poaching is to give the people another alternative. The basic idea is that poachers only do it because they need money to feed their family. It is not a choice, it is a move out of desperation. Peace for Conservation plans to create a better choice.
The program will begin by setting up an ecotourism program. This program will teach local men how to run a safari that will take visitors on a scenic tour of the local wildlife. The men will become certified ecotour guides. The program will pay them much more than they could make by poaching. This will teach them that the elephant is worth more alive than dead. A recent article shows that an elephant tusk is worth around $21,000 US on the black market. The average value of an elephant over its lifetime to ecotourism is around $1.6 million dollars. This value can be transferred to the local economy.
The second step of the program is to invest in the local economy. Peace for Conservation will create a cultural center in the town. This cultural center will be staffed by local women who will teach villagers about the local culture as well as provide an outlet to sell their hand made arts and crafts. This will infuse more money into the villages. The infusion of money into the local economy is the key to winning this battle. Too many organizations want to line their pockets with the cash they generate. Unfortunately, there is often a major disconnect between what a program says it will do and what it actually does. That ends here and now.
They realize that the task is not an easy one. This is why they have also partnered with the University of South Florida’s Patel School of Global Sustainability. This partnership brings in graduate students who are experts in the renewable energy field. The students will assist in installing microgrid solar power systems for the villages. They will also set biogas systems for clean, low carbon output cooking. This will eliminate the current practice of clear cutting the forest for charcoal. Students will also assist in setting up solar and wind powered wells and water purification systems.
These changes will create a “Green Destination” that will be fully sustainable and hopefully meet Global Sustainable Tourism Council requirements. In turn, this will become a beacon of hope in Tanzania. The area will serve as a working model for other regions in Africa. They will lift themselves out of poverty and will no longer need to poach.
Peace for Conservation will also focus on education of the youth. They will implement a program of conservation classes designed to teach future generations the value of saving the environment instead of destroying. They will see their economy is based on keeping the animals alive. The need to poach will be gone. However, they will also have created an economy that is fully sustainable as well as environmentally friendly.
Where do we go from here?
The endgame is to spread this system to as many places as possible. The approach is setup to be able to be scaled up or down to fit the area it is implemented. Other areas will see that is pays better to keep the animals alive. This will choke off the supply routes of the brokers. They will have accomplished our paradigm shift on a grand scale. Poaching will be counter productive to the new economy that will be build. They will have put a larger monetary value on keeping the creatures alive to show off to tourists.
They need your help!
Peace for Conservation relies completely on donations and grant money. They currently are at a critical point in this process. They need your help to get this program off the ground. They can use any donation you are able to give. The money goes towards setting up the eco tours and renting facilities for the cultural center. They have currently put in for several grants. However, they could use your donations to bridge the gap in time.
They currently have a fundraising site: gofund.me/uuankf3j
You can also follow them on Twitter at @Peace4Conserv
Please assist them in this quest to end poaching and poverty in Tanzania and in rural towns and villages worldwide who exploit their resources instead of showing them off.
