The dynamic natural environment and abundant wildlife are the most prominent features of the African continent. Due to its wide variety of biomes ranging from tropical forests to arid deserts, Africa consists of bountiful wildlife diversity. However, because of environmentally harmful human interactions, the variety of biomes is shrinking to all-time lows, which causes wildlife to die out. These detrimental human interactions, particularly livestock overgrazing and desertification, occur partly because the native people who depend on the land for daily life do not realize the potential benefits of wildlife and the unsustainability of their current ways. Poaching for horns and other valuable animal parts has also contributed to the decreasing amount of species present in the wild. However, the methods for conserving the wildlife environment differ in how they address the issue of the dwindling wildlife populations. The conventional method of conservation created in the mold of the Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State (also known as the London Convention) involves the complete centralization of wildlife resources to the government. The newer, more effective method called the Sustainable Use Approach makes drastic changes to the London Convention principles by decentralizing ownership of wildlife and allowing small communities and villages to manage it themselves. Livestock grazing or herding is a human activity that has been taking place for thousands of years in Africa. Pastoral lifestyles emerged in Africa about nine thousand years ago with the arrival of domesticated herbivores like goats, sheep, and aurochs from Asia. Pastoralism thrived in its early stages in Africa because these ... ... middle of paper ... ...e value, protect the wild species. By creating this mutual relationship between the African people and their environment both sides can thrive. References Dregne, H. E. "DESERTIFICATION OF ARID LANDS." Physics of Dersertification (1986). Ciesin.columbia.edu. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. Child, Brian. “Physical Environment.” In-class Lecture. 16 Nov. 2013 Child, Brian. “The sustainable use approach could save South Africa’s rhinos.” S Afr J Sci. 2012; 108(7/8), Art.#1338, 4 pages. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/sajs. 17 Nov. 2013 Child, Brian. “Wildlife, Environment, Agriculture.” In-class Lecture. 17 Nov. 2013 "Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in Their Natural State." The Faculty of Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. "Socio-economic Consequences of Desertification." Learning to Combat Desertification. Unesco. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Colonist believed that Maasai did not deserve these herds of cattle or live on land that they did not know how to use. Igoe explains how the Maasai control their resources and how they understand their environment. “Because Africans did not appreciate the beauty of nature, the therefore had no right to be in that nature. Nature was therefore set aside for the enjoyment of Europeans.” (Igoe 2004: 71) This idea is discussed thoroughly in the book Fortress Conse...
Soule, Michael E et al. “Ecological Effectiveness: Conservation Goals for Interactive Species.” Conservation Biology 17.5 (2003) : 1238-1250.
Pastoralism is the form of agriculture where the domestication and use of animals are used for the primary means of food production. There is a relationship among the animals and humans. The humans give the animals’ protection and guaranteed reproduction. Animals give humans food and other products. Most pastoral groups are loose tribes moving around, yet the household is the primary organization.
Nebel, B. J. & Wright, R.T. 2002. Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future, New Jersey, Prentice – Hall, Inc
Investigations are carried out primarily in towns and villages outside the conservation areas. Particularly attention should be paid to the principal source areas for commercial hunting (Bell et at., 1992). The essential feature of investigations is the following up of information concerning illegal activity back to its source in the villages or towns. Sources of information may include offenders arrested by patrols in the field, linking patrols to investigation activities, illegal hunters and dealers who have been persuaded to provide information, informers of various kinds and information volunteered by members of the public. Investigations are non-standard and unappreciable which makes them less easy to quantify than
Poaching is a serious matter in countries overseas. In one specific area is Africa. Hunters who are poaching in Africa are damaging the wildlife and proper precautions should be taken in preventing this crime; however, African leaders are not doing much about it. If proper precautions were being taken, then there would be less poaching in Africa. Also, poaching is very damaging to the wildlife because all animals depend on each other. Some conservation activists have tried to speak out about this issue by writing letters to hunters, but this has not been a big success. Hunters have also responded and written letters defending themselves and their actions. Over the years there has been a steady decline in the animal populations such as rhino’s
Africa provides one of the most highly destructive environmental issues throughout the whole world. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa has been known to have major impacts with the largest amounts of deforestation, the loss of forests from cutting down too many trees and not re-planting them back. According to the World Resource Institute, Washington DC stated, “More than 80 percent of the earth's natural forests have already been destroyed at a rate of about 40 million hectares per year. Up to 90 percent of West Africa's coastal rain forests have disappeared since 1900. Loss of habitats is among the obvious consequences of deforestation` (seventy percent of the Earth's biodiversity is present in forests). If deforestation continues without any solution, there will be no rain forest left in Africa by the year 2099” (Uneke). Again, the United Nation’s says, "Africa is losing more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) of forest every year -- twice the world's average deforestation rate"(Doyle). Therefore, deforestation can be understood as a completely ecological process in which the human factor is taken into account only as a basic addition, not as a powerful one constantly affecting the environment. In fact, the socially and culturally behavioral practices, such as those involved in traditional resource utilization and human reproduction, and their ecological connections present another approach to the environmental problem in Africa. In the history of deforestation, the studies of pollen sedimentation in bog lake bottom layers shows that regional deforestation replacement of forest vegetation by grasslands and bush lands occurred long ago in various parts of Africa, such as Ethiopia, Ug...
Roos, Dave. “How Desertification Works.” How Stuff Works. n.p. 30 Dec. 2008. Web. 12 Jan.
2. Loh, Jonathan. 2002, Living Planet Report 2002. The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre <http://www.panda.org/downloads/general/LPR_2002.pdf>
Whenever I think about the African rainforest, I always think about the large variety of animals that hide in the dense forests. For several centuries the rainforest has not just been a large forest but a home to the thousands of wild animals who have made their homes in the trees, soil, and waters of the African rainforests. However, the rainforest is now in danger. Deforestation has struck the once-great forest that covered nearly a third of Africa’s surface and is still being reduced by the amount of trees being cut down by people who want to use the land for agricultural reasons. This is why I am going to discuss some ways that people have done to prevent further loss of the rainforest
Habitat loss is one of the main reasons why some species of animals are considered endangered. For example, the population of Africa doubles every twenty-four years. This means forests are destroyed to create space for people, to live and to grow crops, with the wood fro...
Balmford, Andrew, Georgina M. Mace, and Joshua R. Ginsberg. "The challenges to conservation in a changing world: putting processes on the map," in Conservation in a Changing World, ed. Mace, Balmford, and Ginsberg. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998.
Wothington, D., Dann, N., and Bond, S. (2002). Issues in Conservation Management. Proceedings of the CIB W070 2002 Global symposium: Glasgow, 18-20 September pp. 292-302
2009). Within wildlife conservation in southern Africa, small, fenced reserves are playing an increasingly large role (Wiseman et al. 2004). This results in restricted movement and year-round utilization of vegetation, thereby magnifying the negative impacts elephant have on vegetation (Van Aarde and Jackson 2007, Loarie et al. 2009). Slotow et al. (2005) analysed elephant populations in small fenced reserves and found that population growth rates were far higher than in large open system, sometimes growing over 15% per year. This is much more than was anticipated when elephants were translocated to many of these small parks, and exacerbates the negative impact these elephant can have (Mackey et al.
Cutter, Fenwick and Fenwick. (1991). Exploitatoin, conservation, and preservation, 2nd edition. John White & Sons.