The South Luangwa national park is the most peaceful place one can imagine. It is 7am and a gentle sunshines on the river, and all is quiet apart from birdsong and the odd snorting hippo. Across the river there are lots of elephants and impala and giraffe - with improbably large birds in many of the trees. It is a delightful place to spend time and the sense of peace and relaxation is wonderful. For pics see http://www.robinpopesafaris.net/camps/nkwali.php
But in fact we are in a war zone. There are lots of people who have no job, no land, and need to eat, and there are also lots of people who are greedy. Elephant ivory and bush meat from the deer are tempting poachers in to the park with primitive rifles and modern AK 47’s. Rhinos have been wiped out in most of Africa. Despite a lot of support from western donors the Zambian wildlife authority struggles to cope, and large areas of national parks - especially away from the main tourist spots- are heavily poached. There is also a lot of illegal tree felling of what should be protected forests.
The underlying pressure is population growth. For Africa in general this has been around 2.5 to 3 % per year for a long time. It doesn’t sound a lot - but half of all Zambians were under the voting age at the recent elections- and that even if fertility reduces to replacement level - 2 children per woman - there are so many young women that numbers will continue to rise rapidly for another generation. At present rates of growth Africas population, which is now just over 1 billion - similar to India and Europe - will reach over 3 billion (i.e. equivalent to half of the worlds present population) by 2050!
It is hard to see how large areas of land can remain untouched by these extra people - even if the pressure on resources does not lead to war between countries. So, if you are a pessimist - (someone who thinks we live in the best of all possible worlds) - don’t put off your african safari trip for too long.
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