South African ecologists currently face many challenges relating to the conservation of biodiversity and the growing economy. Excessive hunting and land development, as well as unemployment, all remain growing concerns for this struggling country. Jan-Hendrik, a South African who made contact with us, stated, “South Africa has lots of social and economic problems because most people are poor. To get them to middle class requires the economy to grow through mines and the expansion of living areas” (Hendrik). The growth of South Africa’s economy often occurs at nature’s expense. Mining, fracking, expansion of living areas and big game hunting all benefit the economy. Unfortunately, each have detrimental effects on the land and animals.
According to WildlifeExtra.com, big game hunting contributes to .04% of the country’s GDP, but overhunting contributes to a growing number of endangered species. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s website, eleven of the 229 mammal species in South Africa remain endangered, fifteen vulnerable, and thirteen near threatened. Mining, which contributes to 18% of the GDP, is detrimental to air quality, causes deforestation, and releases toxic amounts of minerals and heavy metals into the soil and water (“Effects of Mining,” para. 1). Based on a case study from the Environmental Monitoring Group, the air quality of the Mpumalanga province in South Africa is among the worst in the world because of coal mining, underground fires, and burning fuel from power stations (Munnik 7).
Unemployment, though gradually decreasing, remains a challenge for South Africa. According to Tradingeconomics.com, the current unemployment rate of 24.7% is the lowest it has been in two years. The...
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“Why Sport Hunting Is Cruel and Unnecessary” asserts “natural predators help maintain this balance by killing only the sickest and weakest individuals.” This is the key concept of natural selection that has proven effective throughout history; however, the introduction of invasive and nonnative species can cause an imbalance in population. Opponents would suggest banning hunting in order to allow populations to return to their natural number, but this ban has been proven ineffective in African counties. “How Hunting Helps Wildlife” outlines the detrimental effects a hunting ban can have on wildlife’s population. At one point in time Kenya banned hunting but reinstated hunting as 70 percent had been poached. The laws and regulations in place allowed the populations to be renewed, rising to their original numbers. While banning hunting may sound promising, it has the opposite effect of what is
There’s another catch to trophy hunting: it is extremely expensive. Permits for trophy hunting usually cost thousands of dollars, which leads to the idea that killing animals can actually help conservation. This concept might seem ridiculous at first, but trophy-hunting permits bring in a plethora of money. For instance, the so-called “ten-day ‘elephant package’ could cost… 36,000 [dollars]” (learnenglish). Even if you merely wish to watch the hunt, you are obliged to pay 3,800 dollars (abcnews). The prices are strikingly high, meaning that so is the revenue. South Africa alone brings in more than 744 million dollars every single year, making it its “most profitable form of commercial land use” (learnenglish). This enormous amount of money can not only be used to aid the many third world countries in Africa, but also with conservation. Many argue that by killing wild game during hunting, it causes some species to go extinct. However, strong economic incentive has motivated landowners to expand their territories, reintroduce species, and take care of the animals in general, which would indicate the opposite: more animals are safe. One might even conclude that the world is saving animals, by killing
O’Neill, T. (2013, February 27). Why African rhinos are facing a crisis. National Geographic News. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/02/130227-rhino-horns-poaching-south-africa-iucn/
It is currently increasing in incidence at an alarming rate. Unemployment among young people is increasing predominantly as a result of youth receiving inadequate preparation for the job market and a largely ignored discrimination against youth in the job market. In order to minimize levels of youth unemployment, the education system and current workforce practices need to be analyzed and modified. The education system should be modified so that its degrees and more in line with jobs that are actually available and offer more job experience opportunities. The workforce practices should be modified so that discrimination against youth is minimized as much as possible. This can be achieved through invoking a higher rate of jobs awarded through meritocracy and reducing the amount of informal hiring. It is only after the integration of many of these concepts that youth unemployment levels will decrease. This will be a step towards a world with less inequality and unemployment, a step towards a better
Anti-hunters are opposed to the explicit acts of hunters in Africa because of the environmental degradation it can lead to. What I want to be of focus, though, is that controversy over the act of hunting is not solely in line with hunting endangered African mammals. The results of all kinds of hunts and the drives hunters have to pursue these hunts differ because of the uniqueness of the goods the hunters seek in their adventures. What non-hunters and anti-hunters easily overlook is the anthropocentric values that the hunter seeks to fulfill and achieve, and how it expresses an interaction with nature.
Coal has a very negative impact on the environment, one of the main impacts on the environment is the actual process of extracting the coal from the ground. The two ways that coal is mined, underground and surface, both have different effects on the environment. The first way that coal is mined is by digging tunnels and creating mineshafts underground and then removing the coal from th...
Cameroon, Chad, Mozambique and Congo are the primary countries being affected in South Africa from these anonymous poachers. From the year of 2000 to 2013, the rate of poaching has elongated from 6 to 946 and standing alone in 2012, over 668 rhinoceroses were shot dead in account of the SADEA. Although the staggering rates on poaching of rhinos for their horns seem have caught the attention of millions of individuals across the world, many people fail to realize the significant impact it has on the environment, and so does the Professor of Political Science at the University of North Dakota, William Montgomery.
"Environmental Impacts of Coal Power:air Pollution." Union of Concerned Scientists. Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. .
Spiegel, E. A. (2013, August 19). The Simple Solution to Tackle Youth Unemployment. Retrieved from Linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130819165448-77238165-the-simple-solution-to-tackle-youth-unemployment
Some of the typical impacts that mining in South Africa has on the environment are that it can lead to a loss of biodiversity because of a transformation in the natural habitats and ecosystems. The mining industry also usually requires large amounts of water. Surface and groundwater pollution often happen due to the acid mine drainage.
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.
This is mainly due to mining in the country. The heavy reliance on coal mines to supply 80% of the energy in South Africa causes pollution and allows toxic chemicals to leech into the surrounding land and water bodies. Poor spatial planning of human settlements, sanitation and waste management systems, storm water management, and fall in life expectancy in the past few years have also contributed to South Africa’s low long-term sustainability and high greenhouse gas emission.
Youth unemployment is a term used for people between the ages of 15-19, that do not attend school or tertiary level and don't have any form of paid job. There are reasons causing this growing problem. These being;
A very important aspect of tourism is the transport, transport consists of traveling by air, road, railway and sea. The levels of transportation have been rising at an alarming rate due to the increase in population around the world and due to the increase in traveling tourists. With the increase in the number of tourist, this comes with a consequence, as tourism is responsible for the large amount of air transmissions. These emissions, as well as those that provide the tourists with their important needs such as electricity have great and extremely harmful effects on South Africa's environment for example the wildlife, our fertile soils, the purity of the water supplies, it can even harm human lives and effect our crops. With all these important things being harmed we are risking food shortages due to chemicals effecting the crops, which over a long time can be extremely life threa...