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Threats to biodiversity Drought The persistent drought that pervades the region makes the environment susceptible to soil erosion whilst it also drives rural people to more desperate measures - such as clearing woodlands - to secure their livelihood. In times of drought, the fauna and flora can be severely affected. For example, Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve lost 99% of its wildebeest and 95% of its hartebeest during a prolonged drought in the 1980s. Habitat conversion Due to economic pressures, pristine wildlife habitat is constantly being cleared for agriculture and tree plantations, mining and human settlement. Some development programmes involve modifying the environment, affecting the composition and number of flora and fauna species left in the area. For example, thousands of animals - and quite a few people - died during the construction of Zimbabwe’s Kariba Dam during the 1950s. The dam changed the flow of the Zambezi river and transformed the Marrameu floodplain from a seasonally wet, grassy plain to a dry bushy area prone to fire. Obviously the area that was flooded was lost with a resulting reduction in food for larger herbivores - such as buffalo. The remaining animals were ‘compressed’ along the shorelines, reducing the carrying capacity of the surrounding area. On the other hand, the creation of the new lake ecosystem attracted a new range of water birds and fishes and the local crocodile and hippo populations also flourished.

Humans are not the only species capable of changing their environment. A large herd of elephant can destroy a forest in a few years with the resulting loss in biodiversity. For example, aerial photographs from Sengwa, western Zimbabwe, show that between 1960 - 1970, 75% of forest cover had been lost due to elephant damage. Numbers of antelope, monkeys and other species declined. Similarly, the introduction of exotic species can reduce biodiversity. The introduced variety can over-run an area such as water hyacinth choking lakes and leading to the loss of local water plant species and fish. Hunting and poaching Under colonial administration, big game hunters decimated southern Africa’s herds wiping out the quagga (a zebra) and the blaubok (the blue antelope) by 1860. Trophy hunting continues today in southern Africa but it is strictly controlled and it now contributes to conservation by generating an income for local residents who are motivated to manage and conserve their wildlife.

International poaching poses a serious threat to wildlife conservation and the rhino is especially vulnerable in southern Africa. Official figures from Zimbabwe report that in 1992 the country’s rhino population reduced from 2,000 in January to 400 in December due to poaching. In other parts of southern Africa giant sable, pangolin, turtles and rare birds are also affected. Elephant poaching occurs from time to time but has not seriously affected elephant numbers in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. Inappropriate government policies Sometimes government policies contribute to the loss of biodiversity or environmental degradation. A famous example comes from Botswana where an EU supported game fence was built across the country to prevent the transmission of wildlife diseases to cattle by separating the two. Unfortunately the fence cut across the occasional migration route of its wildlife with devastating consequences. In 1964, about 50,000 wildebeest died and a further 50,000 perished in 1983 because they could not reach the Okavango delta during a drought. Zebra and buffalo were also affected.

CONSERVING BIODIVERSITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Southern Africa has developed policies to combine wildlife conservation with sustainable human development so that their people can contribute to biodiversity conservation whilst shaping their own development. Through game ranching, community wildlife management, eco-tourism and controlled trophy hunting, wildlife has become a production asset. Game ranching is now big business and in some cases neighbouring ranchers are pulling down their fences and pooling their wildlife resources so they can have larger wildlife conservation areas. Ranchers and communal farmers are setting aside land for wildlife, sometimes even replacing species that have not lived on their land for many years. Rural people are training as tourism enterprise managers, tourist guides and game scouts so that they benefit from sharing their land with dangerous animals and the revenues from tourism and hunting are contributing to rural development projects, household incomes and conservation efforts.

Compiled by ResourceAfrica South Africa Office: P.O. Box 2915, Parklands, 2121 – EU Office: P.O. Box 198, Cambridge, CB3 0TF