Solutions
A key problem is that many poachers act with impunity, Harrison writes. Hence he suggests improving enforcement by local authorities as well as the prosecution of poachers.
The International Anti-Poaching Foundation, based in Zimbabwe, is taking a dual route. Besides training anti-poaching units that crack down on poachers in Southern African wildlife parks, they have started to offer poachers an alternative to their trade.
Regarded for their intimate knowledge of the terrain and wildlife, the foundation has begun training convicted poachers as rangers themselves. This means “one less poacher ‘off the street’ … but it also ensures that the unit has a broader knowledge base to use in the course of their duties,” its website states.
Additionally, besides poaching, other illegal economic activities in the reserves contribute to their decline. For example, the washing of gold, pollutes forest rivers with mercury and harms organisms living there.
To help boost the health of the protected areas, Linsenmair suggests improving their layout, which are often small and fragmented. Many species cannot migrate properly since the reserves often border on large cultivated areas.
For example, many birds would not move outside the protection of trees. It would help many species to have corridors joining several reserves. Animal migration is crucial to stabilizing populations and preserving genetic variety, he says.
William F. Laurance from James Cook University, Australia, one of the lead authors of the study, in a news release stresses the importance of reserves.
“We have no choice tropical forests are the biologically richest real estate on the planet, and a lot of that biodiversity will vanish without good protected areas.”
With additional reporting by Heike Soleinsky .
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