Mercenary conservation

Mercenary conservation

Article:

1. Conservationist Meghana Sanka argues that allowing private forests would lead to illegal activities and can change the natural behaviour of wildlife

Important Analysis

2. About Private Conservancy Rules drafted by Karnataka:

• Aim: Increase forest area through private land.
• Provisions: Anyone who has a minimum of 100 acres of land bordering a national park can convert it to a “Wildlife Private Conservancy”. 5% of this land can be used to construct buildings for ecotourism. The remaining has to be kept for flora and fauna.
• The initiative of creating private forests has faced widespread criticism. The author opines that the private forest could be used for illegal activities and can modify natural behaviour of wildlife.

3. South Africa- A case study:

• In South Africa, agricultural land can be converted into wildlife reserves.
• The government first specifies how much land is required for each animal. After that, purchases are made and then animals are introduced in the area
• In some game reserves hunting is legal. Hunting rights for specific animals are regularly auctioned
• However, these private reserves have been criticised for poor management and exploitation of wildlife.
• Further, these reserves have induced behavioural changes among animals since these are fenced
• Some reserves have two sections: one with lions and one without. There have also been problems of overpopulation of particular species in an area.
• These private forests are also subjected to poaching. Rhinos are regularly poached for their horns