Does wildlife tourism have a significant role in the conservation of Africa’s wildlife, or is it, as some hardcore sceptics claim, nothing more than an extractive industry that panders to a wealthy western elite and leaves nothing behind?
This was one of the key questions addressed at this year’s We Are Africa Conservation Lab, which was held in the exquisite surrounds of Stellenbosch’s Spier Wine Farm.
This year, the event attracted some of the big names in wildlife preservation, including Zimbabwe’s Clive Stockil, Kenya’s Ian Craig, Kruger National Park’s anti-poaching enforcer Major General Johan Jooste and, the principal speaker, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) chairman Dr Richard Leakey.