Where cash crops are concerned, the situation is even worse. Huge tracts of land have been irreversibly degraded by inappropriate land use. This destruction of land and loss of productivity and biodiversity is Africa s greatest environmental problem. As far as wildlife is concerned, settlement and agriculture turn the ratchet of extinction another notch. With cultivation, wildlife is not just a zero value package- more often than not it represents a major cost to rural people.
Animals commonly destroy growing crops and foods stores and loss of human life is all too common.
The solution is inevitable. The wildlife has to go. Made wildlands uncompetitive Encouraged cattle and crops Brought marginal lands under the plough Made protected areas untenable Ensured conflict around protected areas Been unenforceable Looking for solutions Southern Africa has been leading in the last decade new approaches which can reconcile the conservation of wildlife and the development of rural areas surrounding protected areas which are vital as ecological corridors. While recognising historical realities and failings, southern Africans take no pleasure in doom and gloom scenarios, preferring to look for solutions rather than dwell on problems. Progress depends on changing the dominant paradigm and moving away from protectionism.