WAPFSA COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT POLICY POSITION FOR THE SUSTAINABLE USE OF ELEPHANT, LION, LEOPARD AND RHINOCEROS 2023

WAPFSA members support many elements contained in this Draft Policy Position, which are also in line with the White paper, these include:

1. “Thriving People and Nature”, which reconnects with Ubuntu, the Indigenous Knowledge and the principles of Harmonious Coexistence and is consistent with the United Nations Environment Program’s Living in Harmony with Nature by 2050;
2. “South Africa’s priority is to secure the survival of species in the wild”;
3. “Focus primarily on correcting unsustainable practices”;
4. “The environment is protected” as a priority;
5. “Duty of care” at the biodiversity, species and individual level
6. The well-being of wildlife is recognised, including the “well-being of individual animals”
7. “End the Captive keeping of Lion for commercial purposes” and
8. “Potentially apply this to other species”;
9. “Phasing out the domestication and intensification of management of Rhinoceros”.

WAPFSA members are, however, deeply concerned about the emphasis given to the set of human interactions that produce, trade, hunt and consume wildlife euphemistically known as the wildlife economy.

The White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa`s Biodiversity (2022) although presenting the wildlife economy as an opportunity for growth, also indicates that the consumptive practices associated with it can have negative impacts if conducted too intensively, or inappropriately.

©WAPFSA 2023. All Rights Reserved.