Rationale of the EAC strategy to combat poaching, illegal trade and wildlife trafficking
The EAC strategy to combat poaching, illegal trade and trafficking of wildlife and wildlife products as of 2017-2022 provides guidelines and a straight clear path to undertake whilst enacting and enhancing efforts to ensure the sustainable utilisation of wildlife resources without interrupting their natural potential to replicate. Wildlife have from the beginning of times lived in co-existence with humans in their natural set-ups and habitats. The concept of co-existence takes into account the fact that all living components are equally relevant within the ecosystem, occupying niches and habitats best suited for them, thereby playing distinct roles to which they are best adapted to ensure and foster sustenance.
With the ever increasing rates of poaching and other forms of illegal wildlife activities, a varied proportion of large mammals are likely to be faced with extinction within the near future if interventions put in place seem insufficient enough to address the crises and extents of wildlife crime. Wildlife crime today stands as the fourth largest crime from the global perspective.
The EAC strategy to combat poaching, illegal trade and trafficking of wildlife and wildlife products underpins its core principles around six main pillars. The pillars include; strengthen legal policy and frameworks, Enhance law-enforcement capacity, increase capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihoods, creation of awareness, foster collaborative efforts and enhance Research and Development endeavors.
The regional strategy is a joint constituent of the national conservation strategies developed and formulated by key conservation actors from the member states, based on practical and highly feasible mechanisms aimed at minimizing cases and threats to wildlife, combating wildlife crimes.
Central to the regional strategy is the need to involve and engage communities into joint conservation efforts so as to obtain, harness and leverage their knowledge and expertise regarding conservation in a manner that is broad sense and collaborative in nature, whereas building their capacities to undertake conservation efforts and initiatives independently. This instigates a whole of society approach towards conservation efforts within the member states aligned to the East African Community.
Chopped by
