Global·NewlyNewsZA

Sustainable use of wildlife is a conditional promise — that SA has not reached

ZA · · Daily Maverick

South Africa’s conservation establishment has a favourite phrase, ‘sustainable use’, presented as the pragmatic answer to balancing biodiversity protection with economic reality. But sustainable use is not a self-executing principle. It depends on science, lawful governance and meaningful enforcement. Where those conditions collapse, the framework does not conserve wildlife. It incentivises its destruction.