THE THREATS TO RHINOS

Disengaged Communities

Engagement and empowerment of local communities is critical to the long term success of wildlife conservation.

Unfortunately we still experience all too frequent cases of human wildlife conflict where local communities feel 'in competition' with the local wildlife. This can lead to a resistance to conservation practices which can take many months and sometimes years to breakdown. It can also lead to illegal activities, such as bushmeat poaching.

For conservation to succeed, local communities must see both short and long term benefit from living alongside wildlife and wildlife conservation programmes. It is essential that humans and wildlife have a way to exist harmoniously alongside each other and the both benefit from the presence of each other.