Abstract

A number of conservation NGOs have adopted a broad-based landscape approach to protected area management but some of their initiatives are clearly being developed “through the eyes of wildlife” rather than “through the eyes of people”. This is a disturbing trend and may reflect a move towards a more protectionist approach to conserving biodiversity and wild lands in the developing world.

Protectionist approaches to the conservation of biodiversity that deprive indigenous people of the ability to support themselves and to sustainably utilize wildlife have a history of long-term failure. They are unworkable and unsustainable in the developing world where issues of poverty are prominent and where subsistence livelihoods are the key to sustainable conservation practices and environmental stewardship. Health is a key area where holistic, integrated, multi-disciplinary approaches across landscapes need to be adopted to ensure long-term conservation success. Wildlife veterinarians and the agencies that support them can facilitate successful landscape conservation by developing holistic health programs that incorporate and integrate human, livestock, and wildlife health.

With the development of large transfrontier conservation areas that may straddle several countries, a wide diversity of areas including traditional game reserves, hunting lands, and conservancies and intervening areas of communal lands under traditional tenure may be included. Examples of conservation initiatives that, in the author’s opinion, will work and others that won’t, will be provided. For these vast areas, a landscape-based approach is essential. But this landscape approach must be people-based in order to sustain animal health (livestock and wildlife), human health and wellbeing, and to maintain ecosystem services.