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Europeans care more about elephants than people, says Botswana president
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024
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That's a silly argument. Lions for example haven't lived in southern Europe since antiquity. If you're going to ask pointed accusatory questions of the Greeks for the fate of lions, go and ask the same of the indigenous people of North America about the fate of giant sloths. The concept of managed biodiversity conservation is a modern one.
I'm not blaming the ancient Greeks or the ancient Americans. They, as you said, knew no better. I'm blaming the modern Europeans (and North Americans) for not re-introducing these animals to their lands, and expecting Africans to do everything.
I'm sure the elephants would be thrilled to have their biome arbitrarily swapped out from under their feet ๐
I'm sure they'd be overjoyed to go to a place where thich cares so much about them! (Also, what about the Botswanans you're asking to move out of their ancestral lands?)
Just for the record, nowhere did I argue for moving Botswanans out of their land.
Fair. But Botswana is facing a water crisis, so unless something is done there is going to be a conflict.
Yes. Which is why I'm arguing for the global north to subsidize the global south.
That would be better than nothing, yes. And maybe Botswana will agree to that. But when you're hit with a drought, there's only so much money can do. Botswana is land-locked, and their neighbours (except South Africa to some extent) are also quite arid. Maybe they can eventually transition their economy to something that uses less water, but transitioning a national economy takes decades, and till then they're screwed.