Wildlife at the expense of fashion

Do you remember the days of wire-thin supermodels clad in the epidermis of some endangered species, a protester wearing nothing but an overcoat of raw meat, and slogans like “I'd rather go naked than wear fur!”. If you do then we are all familiar with the idea of “Fashion at the expense of wildlife” but what about… “Wildlife at the expense of fashion? I'm all for this new idea and I'll tell you why.

I am currently studying wildlife management at a college in Southern England and a pair of boots I own have gone from being just comfortable footwear to a political statement. They are special boots in a number of ways because they are the ugliest things you have ever seen and they are made of Elephant skin. They receive much attention for both reasons but for me they are symbolic in that they represent a face of African wildlife management that is not very popular with “cultured” tastes and yet put into context they are the latest thing on the block.

Wildlife management comes in many different guises and is different things to different people. Where us African's see our animals as a resource, much of the world sees it as something sacred, something to be appreciated but left undisturbed, and something pure and well balanced! Fair enough… if your idea of human-wildlife conflict is “deer in the rose garden” but unfortunately third world economics don't allow us this moral high-ground. We have a saying in Zimbabwe and that is “if it pays it stays”.

I recently read that the average Zimbabwean woman will bear 6 children in her lifetime, she will compete with the climate to produce enough food to feed them all and if she is unfortunate enough to live near a nature reserve those same children will have to chase wildlife out of their crops instead of going to school. We don't have economies robust enough to allow us to volunteer on the weekends, and where the RSPB has over a million members, Zimbabwe doesn't have that many people with jobs.

When I tell people that these boots are made from elephant skin the majority of people say “but aren't they endangered?” So effective was the save the elephant drive that even now as Zimbabwe has in excess of 100 000 elephants, people are not only unaware of the status of the elephant but also horrified that we would use them as a commodity! Elephant hunting is still bringing in foreign currency when all but the hardiest tourists have abandoned Zimbabwe. Our agricultural sector has collapsed and without using our wildlife we would be in far deeper crisis.

We need African solutions designed specifically for African problems. It is a shame that some of the worlds leading conservation bodies control our wildlife management techniques by controlling the release of desperately needed funds or by using their clout to sway legislation to please their subscribers. Armchair conservationists in Europe can remotely control what we do with our wildlife and both the people of Zimbabwe and the wildlife is suffering.

And so with no care for fashion I will continue to wear these boots as a sign of solidarity and a plea for an African solution.

By Brent Stapelkamp, November 2005.

ZimConservation Synthesis Report No. 3