Govt petitioned over billions taken from the poor by tourism giants

The government has been petitioned over what campaigners describe as the continued transfer of billions of pula generated from wildlife resources away from poor rural communities to powerful tourism and hunting interests, following proposals to increase elephant hunting quotas in the 2024/2025 season.

In a formal letter dated December 6, 2024, addressed to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), the Elephant Protection Society (EPS), a Maun-based conservation NGO has raised concern over the draft hunting quota that proposes increasing the annual elephant offtake from 400 to 480 animals, alongside higher quotas for other species.