Silence of the Lambs
Friday, July 13, 2018
![CHOBE. Two sides to the story- Professional hunters say their activities are part of conservation and aid the communities that live with the animals PIC: THALEFANG CHARLES](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://www.mmegi.bw/uploads/imported_images/2018/july/13/phpD8TBPh.jpg&w=400&q=72&f=jpg&t=1)
CHOBE. Two sides to the story- Professional hunters say their activities are part of conservation and aid the communities that live with the animals PIC: THALEFANG CHARLES
His pledge to leading an inclusive Government with people at the centre of the debate is the recipe for success and prosperity. Whilst the Masisi Review may be unpalatable to many, his approach is not entirely about hunting. It’s about appropriate land use, and how to engage rural communities in wildlife-based management. To date there has been a chronic failure to recognise, implement and support community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) in the country.
So, the Masisi Review is about how to bring rural communities to the discussion table, and how to create meaningful and tangible benefits for communities living with wildlife in an appropriate land use context, and to find solutions for human / wildlife conflict: we’re at a critical point - His Excellency’s Parliamentary Committee will consult, investigate and report back to the Office of the President with the facts – not emotion. Conservation costs money, big money, and if the very people living close to and/or with wildlife don’t benefit, it’s hardly surprising that they’ll look carefully at why they shouldn’t shoot an elephant eating their entire crop for the year, or seek to protect their livestock from hungry predators.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...