African Indaba
Afriican Indaba eNewslletter Vollume. 5, Number 1 Page 1 AFRICAN INDABA Volume 5, Issue No 1 eNewsletter January 2007 Dedicated to the People and Wildlife of Africa to ensure that the conference did not turn into an emotional, pro- 1 Conservation, Wildlife & versus anti-hunting debate. Speakers, discussions, and ques- tions focused on the role of markets, property rights, and law for Markets the benefit of effective wildlife policy formation. Recommendations from the “Conservation, Wildlife & Mar- One of the first speakers was Richard Leakey, former Direc- kets” conference at the Strathmore Business School, Nai- tor of Kenya’s wildlife regulatory agency, Kenya Wildlife Service. robi, and its implications for Kenya’s wildlife policy review The content of Leakey’s presentation was a surprise to the audi- ence, given his past position statements. Leakey commented on Guest Editorial by Dr Stephanie S. Romañach the unsustainably and large scale of the illegal bushmeat trade. Wildlife conservation and wildlife policy are particularly emo- He stressed that hunting (in some form) has never stopped in tive topics in Kenya, often stimulating media coverage and in- Kenya despite the ban and is, in fact, widespread and out of tense debate. In 1977, Kenya imposed a ban on trophy hunting control. Leakey went on to say that decision makers should con- that is still in place today. sider a policy to regulate hunting, make hunting sustainable, and The Kenyan government has retained ownership of wildlife to allow people to derive value from wildlife. as well as user rights for the wildlife resource except for tourism. The ban on trophy hunting of almost three decades means Despite these policies, Kenya has remained a popular destina- that most Kenyans have never experienced regulated tourist tion among tourists, many choosing to visit the country for its trophy hunting.
[Show full text]