3 - Community support

Summary

As a ranger in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, John Kahekwa was concerned to see members of the community he had grown up in arrested for poaching. When he asked a man why he had done it, the man replied, “Empty stomachs have no ears”. With no way to make a living, the man entered the park to trap bushmeat to sell and to feed his family. When asked if he would stop poaching if he had a job, the man replied, “Yes, of course!”. John went on to set up the Pole Pole Foundation and that man and several other former poachers were trained to become carvers of wooden souvenirs to sell to tourists, turning them from poachers into protectors, and it kicked started a three-decades-long effort to work with communities to deliver gorilla conservation.

This anecdote gets to the heart of both conservation's problem and its solution. Too many people living around national parks and protected ecosystems live in poverty and are dependent on natural resources for their survival, be that charcoal for cooking or bushmeat for food. With few jobs available, the only way to secure an income is to illegally poach wildlife or exploit timber. There is often no malice involved or the pursuit of great riches, it is simply about supporting their families in the only way they can. It is the reality of “poverty poaching”.

Filling empty stomachs is therefore key to ending poverty poaching. Poaching is an awful activity to be involved in, something only those with no other choice would do. Wild areas are dangerous places and difficult to navigate. All sorts of animals, reptiles and insects can kill you. I heard one story of a bushmeat hunter in Zambia carrying freshly captured carcasses out of the park who was attacked by a male lion seeking out an easy lunch; the man would have died if he had not received urgent medical help. Trudging through forests or over savannahs in search of game or timber and then hauling it long distances is back-breaking work and does not pay well. Add to that the risk of arrest by rangers and we can see why poverty poaching is such a miserable occupation, and why the man John spoke to was so keen to take that job.