While celebrating Nelson Mandela's amazing life I thought I'd chime in and mention the contributions he made to conservation in South Africa. While many species have declined across Africa in South Africa they have increased and in many places thrived due to a mutually beneficial confluence of big game hunting and local stakeholders.
Nelson Mandela with blesbok
“It is important for conservation and rural development to be combined,......Nature conservationists must take into account the needs of people around the reserves. They need to encourage education programmes about protecting wildlife and always act in co-operation with the local communities.”
Nelson Mandela
Mr Mandelas advocacy of issues environmental is widely credited to his two week hunting trip in the early 1990s at the Lowveld nature reserve where he harvested an impala and on a later trip a blesbok.
The philosophy of the KaNgwane Park which greatly appealed to Mr. Mandela was the idea that a large conservation reserve had to generate revenue for the local community via big game hunting.
http://mg.co.za/...
Rest easy tonight Madiba