A sad progression to the thread. I work and live within a conservation environment in Africa. The sad reality within 3rd world countries is that if it can't pay its way it has little value. That is a concept which is very difficult to come to grips with in a developed and stable economy within the First world.
I struggle continuously with the value of a species within the context of a developing community in an environment where the earning population are a fraction of the population relying on that income. It is difficult to judge the need to collect or poach a population of plants or animals when a families survival hangs in the balance. We as first world economies are quick to condemn the collecting or poaching of a species without comprehending exactly how stretched the populations are involved. Easy to sit at home with two cars in the garage, a fridge full of food and a full belly and condemn a man collecting or poaching to keep his family alive. . I do understand that greed and money are part of it, but at the grass roots it is simple survival. I deal with this continuously, not on the plant collecting, but on game management, poaching and collecting. Cecil the lion gets headline news! However lions are far from endangered, but simple creatures like tortoises struggle to get a foot into the spotlight and quite frankly nobody cares. I have been to tracts of land where small species abounded years ago ( shows how old I am), but now sadly are near extinct. Sadly nobody cares, .... The lot of plants as well I am sure.
There is funding for lions and tigers, but sadly not for tortoises or canhii
