COMMUNITY-BASED WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

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COMMUNITY-BASED WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT IN SOUTHERN
AFRICA

• Stuart A. Marks

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Outline

• Place
• Two stories to illustrate process and technical
  issues
• Significance of these stories
• Local wildlife trends (1989-2002)
• Some concluding remarks

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PLACE- Central Luangwa Valley in Zambia
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TWO LOCAL STORIES

• Calling The Shots- on poaching an elephant
• Illustrates some local political/social processes

• Culling 50 Hippos- feeding the community
• Illustrates some technical/mgmt. issues

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On Poaching an Elephant (1)

• BackgroundElements of story
• Elephant shot, dies close to village, butchered
  by nearby residents

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On Poaching An Elephant(2)

• Chief and Wildlife Police Officers (WPO) not in
  place
• Residents respond according to tradition (collect
  meat for chief) and current rules (notify WPO)
• Returning WPO accuse most visible (acting chief
  and Wildlife Sub-Authority leader) of killing
  elephant, torture, take to prison
• At trial, case dismissed for lack of evidence

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On Poaching An Elephant(3)

• Local WPO (reformed poacher) indicted, serves
  prison term, re-employed as WPO
• Two years later, similar incident

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Significance

• Outsiders rarely aware of political/social
  process within communities
• Multiple actors and interests over time/not
  communities
• Actors influence decisions-made
• Lack of trust in motivations of others

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A culling of HipposBackgroundElements of story

• Sell hippo meat, exchange for grains
• Negotiated with Catholic Mission for transport
  both ways
• Appointed local committee with safe guards
• 12 hippos butchered 3 trips to plateau to sell
  meat and return with grains
• Potential revenue generating exercise, ended with
  costing community money
• Outcome profiteering and patronage

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Significance

• No rigorous methodology for setting quota
• Chief plays important role in Sub-Authority
• Nature of real constraints in linking wildlife
  conservation with local development
• Who controls, who are main beneficiaries?

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Local Wildlife Trends 1989-2002

• Counts began in 1960s
• Based upon local knowledge and routines
• No straight lines (different assumptions)
• 1-3 local hunters
• 10-12 timed transects/month
• Range 5-10 hours each
• 6 months during dry season

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Some Conclusions

• Re-examine CBWM narrative
• Refocus on the ground and actors
• Reject universalistic claims either for or
  against CBWM
• Understanding social differences, diverse
  institutions, and environmental processes allows
  for more strategic specificity in interventions

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