Written by Dr Herman Els | 16 May 2011

The South African Conservation Success Story - An Introduction

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The South African Conservation Success Story is a documentary that revolves around the “intimate connection conservationists and hunters share in South Africa” and their mutual efforts to conserve game in the country .

“I could not help but spontaneously applaud!” said Dr David Mabunda, CEO of the 22 South African National Parks, of the documentary.

This documentary is a factual and unemotional presentation of the tremendous biodiversity South Africa harbours and of the efforts of a broad spectrum of people who work and continue working in its preservation for all mankind. It is hoped that the documentary finds its way into South African schools, onto the desks of parliamentarians and decision makers in business and into homes.

After nearly five years of work, 18 months of intensive research and using two award winning film crews, the documentary was completed.

South African National Parks, the SAHGCA, the Confederation of Hunting Associations, Phasa and the Wildlife Ranching Association of South Africa will be hosting the première on 17 March.

In the brief introduction to the documentary the narrator says that the arrival of the first Europeans in Table Bay in 1652 ultimately led to the greatest destruction of game Africa ever knew. Over the next 300 years game animals in the RSA were reduced to barely half a million. And then over the following 50 years their numbers recovered to nearly 19 million. Why did this happen? How did this happen? And what does the future hold?

This is the story….” time when we lost two and almost many other cherished wildlife species that occurred nowhere else. And then see how people rallied to protect our wildlife legacy.”

The film demonstrates how politicians and private citizens fought side by side to ensure all can enjoy the natural riches of the country.

It asks the viewer to “discover the facts to help you make sound decisions about our wildlife and their future conservation, how thousands of outdoors people like you are keeping wild animals plentiful in our country – and how you can do even more to ensure this great heritage.”

Peter Flack, the producer of the documentary, is a lawyer, businessman, conservationist and retired game rancher, does the introduction. The other narrators are Shane Mahoney, a renowned Canadian wildlife biologist, writer and researcher and Dr Mabunda.

Mahoney said: “Somehow, extraordinarily, approximately 150 years ago, a great conceptual leap was made by mankind. A conceptual leap that, in my opinion, is probably the greatest intellectual invention that we’ve had in centuries. And that is to change our attitude towards the natural world and to believe that progress and civilization really is associated with how well we could manage to keep wild nature with us.

“This launched the movement that we have come to know as conservation. A movement that has swept the world, a movement that has played itself out in virtually every continent and in virtually every country. We now believe that the measure of our progress is how well we do for wildlife, not how much we take.”

Dr Mabunda said: ”Parks and preserves cannot and have not in Africa in themselves maintained the biomass and variety of wildlife that is possible in combination with a strong game ranching industry. Furthermore, most game ranching and hunting takes place in the arid or semi-arid regions of South Africa, land that is unsuitable for crop growing and will revert, at best, to sheep and goats and the inevitable erosion and desertification that will follow.”

The documentary sets out the facts relating to the conservation of wildlife, or lack thereof, that has characterised South Africa over the last 360 years. It has no agenda, no bias. The object is to provide the viewer with the factual foundation he or she may need to make wise and informed decisions regarding our wildlife and their conservation in the belief that, if they do, wildlife will be with us, our children and grandchildren and provide marvelous opportunities for all of us in perpetuity.