Lions And Treaties – Why International Laws Are Useless
We Need A Bold New Conservation Paradigm
I have said this many times in posts I’ve writtten – if our generations are the ones who fail the lions and the elephants – we will NEVER be forgiven – nor should we be. Open your eyes and your minds, speak up and get involved. When you travel never support lion or elephant tourism. Please read theses important articles below on lions and treaties.
Lions And Treaties – Why International Laws Are Useless – Why we need a bold new conservation paradigm if lions are to avoid extinction. I refer to the article on lions published in the Nature Conservation website here:
“International law and lions (Panthera leo): understanding and improving the contribution of wildlife treaties to the conservation and sustainable use of an iconic carnivore.”
This is a useful overview of international treaties and conventions which are supposed to protect lions.
Chris Mercer – CACH
There are treaties like RAMSAR and World Heritage that designate areas where wildlife, including lions ought to be protected. There are also species specific treaties like CITES that seek to protect listed species, including lions.
The authors, lawyers and academics, try valiantly to make a case for these international laws and treaties. Admitting the shortfalls and failures, they nevertheless claim that there is some benefit to lions from this hideous bureaucracy of legal drafting.
As one would expect from lawyers, for whom the magnificent complexity of life on earth can be reduced to written rules, their solution is:
a. better enforcement of existing rules, and
b. more rules.
b. more rules.
I disagree, for reasons spelt out in my critique, which you can read here:
http://www.cannedlion.org/blog/lions-and-treaties
Chris Mercer
CACH
CACH
