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Analysis
By Keith Somerville
University of Kent – The government of President Mokgweetsi Masisi in Botswana announced that he would hold a two-month national consultation to review the ban on hunting, including elephants. The ban, introduced by Masisi's predecessor, Ian Khama in 2014, has been increasingly criticized by people living in areas populated by large wildlife populations as well as by previously income-dependent poor communities. of hunting
. the country's parliament is calling on the government to consider lifting the ban on elephant hunting. The motion was introduced in parliament by Konstantinos Markus, a member of President Masisi's Democratic Party in Botswana. The consultation will be conducted by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.
Markus, who won the support of the majority of MPs from all parties, argued that several factors required the lifting of the ban. These include the increase of the elephant population in Botswana, the growing conflict between populations and elephants (such as crop destruction and endangering populations) and the loss of income from the hunting for local communities. He also argued that the ban contradicted the goals of one of the country's key conservation efforts designed to contribute to rural development.
It is significant that the Ministry of Environment and Tourism does not lead the process. Given that it is the local government and the Ministry of Rural Development in charge, the focus will probably be on rural livelihoods rather than protecting the environment.
The hunt was banned by President Ian Khama in January 2014. The decision followed a survey of Botswana's wildlife. He suggested that a number of species were in decline in northern Botswana, where most sports and commercial whaling took place. He found that the numbers of ostriches had dropped by 95%, wildebeest 90%, tsessebe 84%, warthog and kudu 81% and giraffes (66%) between 1966 and 2011.
Weakness of the investigation was that she Khama and her brother Tshekedi, who was Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, attributed the decline of hunting to hunting. Animal rights NGOs and some wildlife filmmakers then demanded the ban on sport and most forms of commercial hunting, accusing them of abandoning the species.
But a study by Joseph Mbaiwa of the Okavango Research Unit. Botswana considered that this ban was not supported by any scientific evidence and that local communities were not involved in the decision-making process.
Mbaiwa concluded that the ban was opposed in local communities where there had been hunting. . This was because it had contributed significantly to the income that they had lost. In addition, wildlife was increasingly damaging crops while the increase in livestock following the ban affected water resources.
Mbaiwa also found that rural communities had lost a major source of meat providing vital protein. ban
The combination of lost income, increased conflict with wildlife and increased poaching weighed heavily in the minds of MPs when they voted massively to ask the government to reconsider the ban. Markus presented his motion as being "of urgent public importance", adding that the urgency was due in part to the most recent figures indicating a national elephant population of 237,000, compared to a load capacity of 50,000
. ] The expansion of the elephant population in Botswana has impoverished communities, particularly those in Boteti, Ngamiland, Chobe or northern Botswana, where crop damage and lack of elephant harvesting are frequent.
The large elephant census conducted in 2014 established the population at 130,451, but the 2012 dry season survey revealed 207,545.
Possible explanations of the fluctuation in the number could include migration as well as seasonal factors rather than a total decline.
What happens next?
The consultation process must begin when the parliamentary session ends the first week of August. This will involve a series of traditional kgotla meetings – public meetings where everyone will have a say before leaders make a decision.
It is significant that the president is chaired by the minister responsible for rural livelihoods rather than Tshekedi Khama, the Minister of the Environment, who was one of the main supporters of the ban .
One of the reasons for this decision could be that the new president, who replaced Ian Khama on April 1, 2018, wants to appease a growing number of BDP MPs. local councilors and chiefs who say the ban harms the livelihoods of rural people and has a detrimental effect on rural development. If these problems are not resolved, the party risks losing the rural votes in Ngamiland to the elections next year.
There will likely be very heated debates in the coming months as the government questions the lifting of the ban. the economic reality, or if the Khama factor will still weigh heavily on the decision.
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