Rob Small's Masters Thesis: Uptake and the success of insect ...

Conservation in the context of exploitation clearly means different things to different
people. Some wish to preserve their ability to profit from animal ‘resources’, with little
concern about long term declines in populations or impacts on ecosystems. Others are more
interested in minimising risks of extinctions or targeted species and minimising impacts on
ecosystem function (Reynolds et al., 2001).
There is increasing evidence that, particularly where habitat loss is a critical threat to
species, sustainable use may be the chief mechanism through which conservation is
achieved (Hutton & Dickson, 2001). Because the use of wild living resources remains an
essential livelihood strategy for many, use that is biologically sustainable, with the
potential to provide incentives for conservation, seems a clear goal for which to strive
(Hutton & Leader-Williams, 2003).
The logic behind this proposition is that revenues generated by the commercial
consumptive use of wild species will provide economic incentives for sound management
of the harvested populations (Freese, 1997). This relatively new approach by the
conservation community has been developed due to the realisation that protected areas
cannot be depended on fully in the quest for the conservation of biodiversity. This approach
has been implemented in many countries worldwide e.g. the CAMPFIRE project in
Zimbabwe which “returns the right of rural communities to manage and use wildlife to
their own benefit” (Hutton & Dickson, 2001).
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