ECOCLUB Blogs™

This year there has been a steady stream of self-congratulatory announcements of successes from the bloody "war on poaching" undertaken by security services led by merciful mercenaries, drone fleets etc. But conservation should not be inhumane or trample on human rights. Nor should it be used as a geopolitical pretext to put troops on the ground where there are not enough drugs or religious fanatics. As long as there is demand for ivory and rhino horn and as long as possession of such is legal there is no chance of stopping this trade. Some therefore propose to focus on demand. Tackling demand can involve education and peer pressure but it is very likely that the affluent and powerful buyers of such "works of art" are not so sensitive. Perhaps a global campaign to pressure key and powerful governments to make holding ivory (all ivory, not just "illegal") and rhino horn pieces illegal? Even including artefacts in museums, that glorify and thus perpetuate this abominable "art"? Perhaps! Even though governments (in effect the military-industrial complexes behind them) cannot agree even on small steps to combat climate change.   We should also realise that elephants and rhinos are not the only victims. The poachers...