Conservationist and MD of Mkambati Matters and Africa's Finest, Colin Bell, says that while tour operators criticised a conservation contribution or levy introduced within the Sabi Sands Reserve, the initiative has seen poaching within the reserve plummet.
Towards the end of last year the Sabi Sands Reserve announced, at short notice, a conservation contribution/levy of R100 per person per night (US$7pppn) to help fund its anti-poaching, security and conservation requirements to overcome the rhino poaching scourge.
The move was slated by many tour operators as the levy was viewed to be difficult to implement, hard to pass on to the consumer etc. Whilst there are always two sides to these debates, especially when it comes to money / levies etc, sometimes desperate times do require desperate measures.
Such a levy was exactly that – a desperate measure to help fund initiatives to gain the upper hand over the poachers and thus help to protect the rhino. The good news is that the Sabi Sands is now streets ahead of many reserves and rhino poaching there has plummeted as a result of a whole range of important initiatives – including the acquisition of its own helicopter; beefing up security at the entrance gates and along the boundaries as well as intensive, expert patrolling and monitoring aided by sniffer dogs and boots on the ground.
All these initiatives cost money – and lots of it. That conservation contribution is helping to pay for measures that are winning that battle. One of the reserves within the Sabi Sands I was at recently had just reached an important milestone of 200 poaching-free days. Have a look at some of the initiatives that are in place to help deter poachers.
Sometimes we in the tourism industry need to look beyond the immediate inconvenience to become part of the solutions. We are indeed fortunate that we do have organisations that are being proactive and in so doing helping to conserve our wildlife for future generations.
