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Africa's protein markets reveal a fascinating economic paradox: the cheaper product to produce isn't always the more affordable product to buy. Across the continent, bushmeat and beef engage in a complex pricing dance that defies simple economic assumptions, with supply chain efficiency emerging as the decisive
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Illegal activities that pose significant challenges in most of Africa include habitat loss through charcoal production, illicit harvesting of timber, poaching of wildlife, and overfishing of water resources. In the Lugenda Wildlife Reserve (LUWIRE) within the Niassa Special Reserve of northern Mozambique, these issues are being addressed head-on. For several
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6 AM: An antelope dies in a wire snare 200 kilometers from the nearest city. 6 PM: That same antelope is served in an urban restaurant. This is the bushmeat pipeline. What began as local subsistence hunting has evolved into an industrial supply chain. Poachers sell to local traders, who
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By Prof Brian Child I believe that the problems afflicting resource-dependent communities in forests and drylands originate from insecurity of person and property. The institution of property in the context of the reinstitutionalization of ungoverned spaces through Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM), where property has four main purposes: 1. The
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When we think of African wildlife crime, we picture this. Poaching. Ivory. International trafficking. But there's a hidden crisis unfolding across Africa that dwarfs these headlines. Every single day, across every habitat. While around 20,000 elephants are killed annually for ivory… …millions of African animals disappear into
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An extraordinary partnership in the ancient granite landscape of the Matobo Hills of Western Zimbabwe is proving that private enterprise and community can thrive when wildlife is used sustainably. When the Johnson brothers, Guav and Courteney, partnered with the communal land residents who had long struggled with poverty and limited
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Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is an approach to conservation that recognizes the economic value of ecosystem services and creates financial incentives for their protection. PES involves transactions where a beneficiary or user of an ecosystem service makes payments to individuals or communities whose land management decisions affect the provision
Anti-Poaching in Action
By Hank's Voice The celebrity led, UK based, Campaign To Ban Trophy Hunting (CBTH) must not be making enough money from selling their ugly T-shirts and peddling their even fouler lies, as they're amping up their antics again, desperately hoping to hoodwink a gullible public and
Located in northern Botswana, a 160-kilometre electric fence encircles the nation's "food basket", but the project's ambitious expansion plans and wildlife controversies reveal the complex matrix of food security in modern Africa. With fertile black cotton soils and an annual rainfall of 600 millimeters,
The SA Hunters and Game Conservation Association has a proactive leadership position on the South African National Lead Task Team (LTT). Here are the key details: SA Hunters' Role: SA Hunters is a founder member of the National Lead Task Team (LTT), one of the task teams of the
Mark Haldane, director of Zambeze Delta Safaris (ZDS), accepts that funding remains the perpetual challenge facing comprehensive anti-poaching operations in Mozambique. The reality is stark: safari operations alone simply don't generate sufficient revenue to sustain both a profitable business and the extensive conservation efforts his organization pursues at
By Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Dilguerian De Oliveira Conceição According to current global statistics, two rangers lose their lives in the line of duty every week, with over 1,000 rangers killed worldwide and many more injured over the last 10 years. Nearly 9 out of 10 African rangers (88.6%
By Prof Brian Child The last few centuries have seen the most rapid transformation of human society in history. The misery of an agrarian economy based on feudal ownership was replaced by the current era of prosperity and personal freedoms that so many of us are fortunate to enjoy. This
The breathtaking scenery of the Matobo Hills in South-western Zimbabwe, with its multitude of massive round granite domes with gigantic boulders of various sizes balanced on top, creating what looks like natural art, has been sculpted over millions of years by sun, wind and water. The hills, known locally as
By Hanks Voice It's difficult to find someone not fascinated by and attracted to hummingbirds. They are universally alluring avian marvels that are highly recognizable, tiny in stature, capable of incredible, almost helicopter-like maneuvers in flight, and bejeweled with stunning iridescent plumage. Sightings of them are coveted in
By the 1950s, Nile crocodiles in Zimbabwe were nearly extinct. Commercial hunters had killed most of them for their valuable skins. The crocodiles were easy targets because they lived in predictable locations, hunters could spot them easily at night with spotlights, and each kill was worth a lot of money.
In a country where approximately 25% of the territory is designated as protected areas, Mozambique faces significant conservation challenges that require dedicated attention and strategic planning. The Mozambique Wildlife Alliance (MWA), under the leadership of Director João Almeida, has emerged as a key partner to the National Administration of Conservation
Over the past twenty years, the organizations operating in the eastern concession blocks of Niassa Special Reserve, straddling Niassa and Cabo Delgado Provinces, Kambako, Luwire, Chuilexi Conservancy, and Mariri/Niassa Carnivore Project, have made one of the largest and longest-standing investments in conservation and rural development in Mozambique. Together, these
With the endless challenges facing African governments, such as poverty, inadequate infrastructure, unemployment, and institutional fragility, wildlife conservation is invariably at the bottom of the "to-do list". One of Africa's central paradoxes is that the continent has unparalleled natural wealth, from iconic megafauna to diverse ecosystems,