Transcript Pete Goodman - Green Branding for Game Ranching

Game Ranching and Biodiversity
Conservation: encouraging a
mutually beneficial partnership
Pete Goodman
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife
OVERVIEW
• Introduction – Situation, Problem, Purpose
• Principles – What constitutes good biodiversity
management and how is it evaluated?
• Challenges – Ecosystem manipulation, Species range
manipulation, Animal husbandry, Selective breeding.
• Addressing Challenges – Legislation, Incentive
programmes?
• Mechanism – Criteria, Scoring, Categories, Assessment,
Incentives
• Discussion session
INTRODUCTION
• Situation – ↑ land under wildlife land use, private and
communal area far outweighs area under state control
• Problems:
• Current contribution to biodiversity conservation not
known – industry thinks high, regulators not impressed
• Contributions to biodiversity conservation are not secure
• Purpose – Discuss mechanisms for incentivising good
biodiversity management practice in the wildlife industry
AIMS AND PRINCIPLES – BIODIVERSITY
CONSERVATION
Aim - Retain the evolutionary potential of systems and species
What principles underlie ‘best practice’ Biodiversity Management?
1.
Management units are large enough for the primary landscape processes
which determine the structure and function of the system to continue to
function
2.
Management aims to restore and maintain the primary ecological processes
which are the primary determinants of the structure and function of the system
3.
Management aims to restore and maintain the ‘naturally occurring’ species
composition of communities comprising viable populations of each species
4.
Management aims to restore and maintain genetic integrity of populations
(heterozygosity and pure lineages are retained, inbreeding and outbreeding
depression, and hybridisation is minimised)
MEASURING ACHIEVEMENT
• The measuring of performance and achievement in protected
areas is well developed – and implemented?
• This is not the case in the game industry
CHALLENGES
• Wildlife ranchers on the whole have different objectives to
conservation managers:
 Primary driver is economic
 Primary constraint is legislative regulation
• The outcome of the above is as follows:
 Properties are fenced (required by regulation)
 Surface water point density is high, positioned without consideration for
landscape level processes
 Agricultural based range management and manipulation, fire?
CHALLENGES CONT.
 Agricultural animal husbandry practices are applied (food & nutrient
supplementation, parasite and disease control)
 Large herbivore community depauperate
 Out of range species promoted
 Selective breeding – colour morphs, higher frequency of trophy animals
 Predators – in most cases not tolerated
• Do game ranches and farms contribute to
biodiversity conservation?
ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES
• Can the game industry be encouraged to make a greater
contribution to biodiversity conservation, if so how?
 Legislation – issues around prejudice, capacity to implementation
 Incentives – Currently few if any incentives in the game industry to
manage for biodiversity conservation – Stewardship?
• Other industries have it e.g. Wine and Biodiversity
Initiative
• Is it not time for a Wildlife and Biodiversity Initiative?
MECHANISM
• Green Game Ranch Certification – How do we develop and
implement it?
• Develop the criteria – biodiversity management, tourism
impact, hunting practice and ethics, game harvest practice
and ethic etc.
• Develop scoring and weighting
• Develop categories –
• Identify incentive package – e.g. advertising, support,
founder populations, breeding stock
• Seek formal stakeholder adoption
DISCUSSION
• Is there a need for ‘Green Branding’ and certification in the
wildlife industry?
• Are there any obviously attractive incentives?
• Who should be involved in in the development of such a
system, and who is likely to fund it?
• Who needs to endorse it?
• Who and how should it be implemented?