How can wildlife be Conserved ?

With the shrinking wildlife spaces, and demand for human settlements. How can wildlife be conserved?

Long gone are days when conservation areas were only found in less travelled road with low human population. A population that understood the importance to co-exist with the wildlife. They found ways to balance their needs, and rarely brushed shoulders the wrong way.

It started with littles towns near these conservation areas for tourism needs, which grew to big towns and now cities. Urbanization being introduced in these areas, attracted human population that needed spaces for settlements.

Luckily for sometimes, some areas were owned communally hence not possible for individuals to sell pieces of land. It was a community decision. This is what has saved the big conservation areas in most places. Unfortunately, this too is dying and communities are diving the available land among themselves. Allowing individuals power to sell their pieces of land.

The new comers around the conservation areas are not very friendly to the way of life with wildlife presence. And continue to introduce practices that make it difficult to co-exist hence promoting frequent human-wildlife conflicts.

The enticing deals

For the huge pieces of land, we now have investors targeting these areas and introducing huge investment returns deals that push people to embrace different land use. From commercial fruit production, livestock, among others. These lead to lots of fencing, that closes all wildlife corridors and shrink wildlife dispersal areas.

With the change in land use, human wildlife conflicts continue to become the huge elephant in the room. The long tiresome processes involved continue to push people away from caring much about wildlife. Taking actions to their hands, leaving stray wildlife into their mercies. Unfortunately, in some cases, these wildlife end up dying from these actions.

Climate change and Natural disasters

We have been doing a good job in coming up with practices that will help us in adopting and mitigating changes brought by the changing climate. Not much thought has been given to the wildlife. Yet they experience the same.

They have been experiencing natural disasters such as drought, floods, heatwaves, among others. These conditions may have forced them into people’s farms from time to time, creating more problems with the farmers.

Some people have gone further to use live fences, that have resulted to instant death to any wildlife heading that way.

Increased tourism activities within and outside these conservation areas

Wherever we have wildlife, we all think of tourism.

This promotes creation and excelling of different businesses that provide tourism needs. More hotels, motels, camping grounds, shopping centers, curio shops, coffee stops, viewpoints, etc.

These structures have pros and cons. And without proper management end up causing more harm to the wildlife. But we rarely look it that way. Everyone will see it as an opportunity to create more jobs and revenue, which some is said to be invested back to the wildlife.

What will happen if we continue to ignore the cons, and say yes to more tourism units in the conservation areas?

So, how can wildlife be conserved?

How do we ensure that wildlife is safe from all activities happening within and outside their living space?
We need to always consider wildlife welfare in all decisions made, without sacrificing their wellness for profits.
All land use around these conservation areas should be wildlife friendly.
Government should come up with a plan to secure the wildlife dispersal areas, or at least compensate communities to encourage them to sharing the space with wildlife.
We should have services in all areas, to discourage rural-urban migrations. All places should not have to travel or move to other areas for basic needs, or businesses. Hence reducing the pressure on few areas.
Climate change adaptation and mitigation plans should include wildlife.
We need to seriously invest in our wildlife before its too late. We have unique wildlife, but all that can be gone if we continue to subject them into harsh conditions.