One of our facebook members responded with these details to Fluts post on the AW page :
Duane Jacobsz I quote Ira Larivers: "I took the following off of Accurate Reloading -
www.accuratereloading.com this morning.
"MBOMBELA – A survey among SANParks visitors, as to whether they would be willing to pay an additional anti-poaching fee for visiting national parks, was recently concluded by the SANParks Tourism Research Unit. Ike Phaahla, media specialist of the organisation, confirmed that the survey received 5 000 responses.
The study was conducted with SANParks clients only. According to the hosting website (
www.surveymonkey.com), the survey has now been concluded. Phaahla said the research unit embarked on this initiative to gauge the response of overnight visitors and Wild Card members to the suggestion for such a levy. Members of a private forum who lobby to “keep conservation areas pure, natural and green” aired concerns about such a levy, foreigners alleging that the wild card for them “is already terribly expensive, with an extra on top being just too much”.
Some stated that they already stay outside the park because the accommodations have become too expensive, and that they would not be able to visit the parks if they had to pay another levy. Phaahla emphasised that there is a lot of pressure on SANParks due to criminal elements plundering natural resources including the elephant and rhino – two of the Big 5 animals that drive tourism and are important to the ecosystem."
I am leaning more and more to the school of thought that the private sector is one of the best ways to go to combat poaching. Of course the government must be involved, because they are the ones with the statutory authority, but they are also weighed down with unwieldy bureaucracy and corruption. And in the case of countries like Kenya and South Africa, much of the government's policy is already driven through the purse strings by First World activist groups as much as it is by properly-qualified ecologists.
As an interesting BTW, Hemmersbach Rhino Force is already heavily active in the Kruger. Private sector "conservation PMCs", of course, source their own funding. So it sounds to me as if this proposed levy is as much about creating a new slush fund as it is combating poaching.
Just sayin'."