The pangolin, elephant, mountain gorilla and the giraffe, all have one thing in common; they are endangered species. These animals and many more are becoming more vulnerable despite the increasing agitations for protecting endangered species across the continent and the world at large.
While some are critically endangered, others are vulnerable and are near-threatened, with populations of animals across many parts of Africa reducing as each day goes by.
For instance, about 30 per cent of the Africa’s Savannah elephants has been wiped out between 2007 and 2014, with around 144,000 of this species lost over a seven-year period in 15 African countries. Declining at a rate of eight per cent a year, as at 2016, the population across Africa stands at 352,271 elephants.
In a statistics compiled by by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission’s African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG), by the end of 2015, the number of African rhinos killed by poachers had increased for the sixth year in a row with at least 1,338 rhinos killed by poachers across Africa in 2015.
More than one million wild pangolins have been killed in Africa in the last decade, while the world’s tallest mammal, the giraffes, made the 2016 IUCN Red List, where giraffe populations was noted to have fallen from about 157,000 in 1985 to 97,500 today, a population drop of almost 40 per cent.
Caused mainly by overexploitation, habitat loss and the reduction in resources essential for survival, humans are largely responsible for the increasing species decline.
Director, Zoological Garden, University of Ibadan (UI), Dr Olajumoke Morenikeji, noted that although it seems as if it is just the animals that are affected, endangering animals also takes its toll on us as humans.
“Many animals have been overhunted for whatever they can provide for humans. For instance, the pangolin is a delicacy in many areas, while the scale is also used in traditional medicines and cultural practices. It is unfortunate that we are taking away from the wild without replenishing it; when people hunt animals, it affects their breeding and in turn affects their continued existence.
“When we overhunt and exploit the natural resources which include the wildlife fauna and flora, we deplete the ecosystem of what ought to serve as a buffer for humans. For instance pangolins eat millions of insects in a year, including pests that affect the crops; so when we continue to hunt them down in large numbers, there will be an imbalance in the ecosystem; there will be a booming of those insects and the crops will be destroyed. So the ecosystem is all interwoven, whatever is removed from the ecosystem creates an imbalance which eventually will affect humans,” she said.
Overexploitation of animals remains one of the most obvious causes of species endangerment. Many species are harvested on an unsustainable basis, as the number of animals removed from the population is greater than the number replaced through reproduction or recruitment.
Our demands for natural resources over the years have continued to outweigh the available resources. For instance, the Earth Overshoot Day was recorded less than eight months into 2016, a reminder of the enormous toll we take on the earth. The Earth Overshoot Day marks the juncture when humanity’s demand for ecological resources exceeds what the planet can replenish annually.
So it is therefore important to remind ourselves that all life on earth is interconnected to form a balanced, healthy ecosystem, and all species are dependent on each other in one way or another. Biodiversity is essential to a healthy planet, and the extinction of some flora and fauna upset the equilibrium in an ecosystem.
Besides the ecological effect on both animals and humans, wildlife endangering also have an adverse effect on the African economy. Elephant poaching for instance costs African nations millions in lost tourism revenue.
According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, where researchers looked at visitor and elephant data across 25 countries, and modeled financial losses from fewer visitors in protected areas due to the illegal wildlife trade, they concluded that Africa was most likely losing $25 million in tourism revenue a year.
Around $9 million of that is lost from tourists’ direct spending, such as staying at hotels and buying crafts, with the rest through indirect value in the economy such as farmers and other suppliers supporting the tourist industry.
“The takeaway message is that the return on investment in elephant conservation is positive across much of their range in Africa. In addition to all the other good reasons for their conservation, there is a compelling economic one too,” the paper’s lead author and senior conservation wildlife scientist at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Dr Robin Naidoo said.
However, many agencies and governments across the world are doing all they can to address the issue of poaching and illegal wildlife trade, which has reached unprecedented levels.
Perhaps as President Muhammadu Buhari has recently assented to the Endangered Species Control of International Trade and Traffic Amendment Act 2016, this will serve as a deterrent to many perpetrators of these illicit acts.
The Act provides for the conservation and management of Nigeria’s wild life and the protection of some of her endangered species in danger of extinction as a result of overexploitation, while prohibiting hunting of or trading in wild animals.
Senator Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), said recently that “The intent of this amendment is to bring the penalty provisions in line with economic realities and to act as a deterrent or deter people from trafficking and trading in endangered species because endangered are preserved of the country.”
According to him, the Act is to discourage trafficking in endangered species and will encourage the culture of the preservation of endangered species.
Reacting to this, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) Director General, Mr Adeniyi Karunwi, noted that this is a welcomed development which stakeholders have clamoured for in time past.
“The initial endangered species decree which was signed by General Muhammadu Buhari when he was the military head of state had to be revised to bring it up to date because the sanctions specified in the original act against the amount to be paid were ridiculous. So the objective of the Act which we have been clamouring for for quite some time now is for there to be the right judgement for people caught from poaching so that they will be discouraged from it.”
Recommending reforestation as a conservation method, Karunwi said “the major issue is that animal habitats are destroyed when forests are fell to construct roads, houses and the likes. And habitat destruction is a major threat which causes animals to become endangered. They have nowhere else to go once their habitats are destroyed. So that is why we are saying that let us bring back our forests, which is why we introduced the Green Recovery Nigeria (GRN).”
With fears that Nigeria’s forestland may be reduced to grasslands by 2046, the NCF recently launched the GRN initiative to recover at least 25 per cent of the country’s forest cover before the next three decades.
Dr Morenikeji on the other hand noted that although the Act is a step in the right direction, enforcement is key.
“We just have to hope that the laws will be made effective. Because prior to now, the laws are there. For instance, there are laws protecting the pangolin, but nobody is ensuring that these laws are enforced. There are lot of poaching going on and all the protected areas are just on paper. So the first step is to make the law, which must be followed up with enforcement and ensuring that everyone is involved.”
On the international platform, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) last year at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES (CoP17), adopted trade regulations for over 500 species of animals and plants. This comes into effect this year.
CITES Secretary-General, John E. Scanlon said “CITES CoP17 was a game changer for the world’s wildlife, with international trade in 500 more species brought under CITES controls, including high value marine and timber species. CITES also adopted a vast array of bold and powerful decisions addressing critical areas of work, such as curbing corruption and cyber-crime, and developing well-targeted strategies to reduce demand for illegal wildlife. These far-reaching outcomes of CoP17 will impact on wildlife and ecosystems, as well as on people and economies. We are all now focused on the implementation of these decisions for which we need equally bold concrete actions.
CITES Secretary-General, John E. Scanlon said “CITES CoP17 was a game changer for the world’s wildlife, with international trade in 500 more species brought under CITES controls, including high value marine and timber species. CITES also adopted a vast array of bold and powerful decisions addressing critical areas of work, such as curbing corruption and cyber-crime, and developing well-targeted strategies to reduce demand for illegal wildlife. These far-reaching outcomes of CoP17 will impact on wildlife and ecosystems, as well as on people and economies. We are all now focused on the implementation of these decisions for which we need equally bold concrete actions.”
While China, which is the major buyer of elephant ivories, has decided to ban all trade in ivory by the end of 2017, the question remains whether the Chinese desire for ivory will run out before Africa runs out of elephants. Overall, the ban should be positive, but there are however, speculations, that the announcement may not be backed up with actions.