Game Ranching

Pienaar, E. F., E. C. Rubino, M. Saayman and P. van der Merwe (2017) “Attaining Sustainable Use on Private Game Ranching Lands in South Africa” Land Use Policy 65: 176-185.

Abstract: Although the financial returns of game ranching in South Africa have been well documented, it is often implicitly assumed that the increased transition of lands to game ranching equates to net conservation gains in terms of habitat management and biodiversity conservation. As a first step towards testing this assumption, we conducted qualitative interviews with 28 game ranchers and 10 other key stakeholders in South Africa to investigate how ranchers manage habitat on their lands, and the degree to which they incorporate ecological advice into their land management activities. The purpose of this analysis was to elicit the range of views on how game ranching contributes to biodiversity conservation, rather than to measure the distribution of ranchers who engage in specific stewardship practices. We found that interviewed game ranchers engage in several stewardship practices that are consistent with sustainable use, namely: control of bush encroachment; removal of invasive, exotic plants; erosion control; the use of fire; and active management of game to maintain habitat quality. However, these land stewardship practices were not uniformly adopted by interviewed ranchers, and were not always based on ecological advice. Although our results cannot be expanded to the larger game ranching community in South Africa, they do suggest that game ranchers would benefit from active extension services that provide guidance on biologically sustainable land management practices, which would reinforce the long-term financial and ecological viability of game ranches.

Rhino Horn Trade

Rubino, E. C. and E. F. Pienaar (2020) “Rhinoceros Ownership and Attitudes Towards Legalization of Global Horn Trade Within South Africa's Private Wildlife Sector” Oryx 54(2): 244-251.

Abstract: South Africa's private sector is vital to rhino conservation yet there is a lack of research into the attitudes of current and potential rhino owners towards rhino conservation and horn trade. We surveyed 169 members of the South African private wildlife ranching industry to examine these matters. We sought to understand: (1) ranchers’ motivations for owning or not owning rhinos, (2) how rhino ownership affects ranchers’ income and operations, and (3) the attitudes of wildlife industry members towards legalization of global rhino horn trade. Our findings indicate that all respondents recognize the risks of rhino ownership and tend to distrust national and provincial environmental departments. In addition to these concerns, rhino owners have substantial monthly security and management expenditures. We found positive attitudes overall towards global rhino horn trade. Rhino owners strongly agreed that legalization would benefit rhino owners and rhino conservation. Documenting the realities of private rhino ownership and the opinions of the wildlife industry is important for policy design and for informed debate about the legalization of the rhino horn trade.

Rubino, E. C., E. F. Pienaar, and J. R. Soto (2018) “Structuring Legal Trade in Rhino Horn to Incentivize the Participation of South African Private Landowners” Ecological Economics 154: 306-316.

Abstract: There is contentious debate in the literature regarding the conservation efficacy of the international rhinoceros horn trade ban. Because the ban has been in effect for 40 years, it is unclear how potential legal horn trade should be structured to attain rhino conservation on private lands. We sought to fill this gap by eliciting the preferences of South African private wildlife industry members (who conserve a third of South Africa's rhinoceroses) for international trade in rhino horn. We used a combination of best-worst scaling and dichotomous choice experiments to determine wildlife industry members' preferences for three features of legal trade: market structure; payment/kg horn; and whether landowners should be required to conserve a minimum amount of land per rhino before they may enter the market. Results indicate that respondents preferred payments of at least ZAR 150,000/kg (USD $11,500) and that legal trade not be regulated by government organizations. Respondents did not have clear preferences about whether market participants should be required to meet a minimum land requirement per rhino. Our results provide insights into how potential horn trade policy may be structured to meet the financial needs of private landowners, while securing the conservation of rhinos on private lands.

Rubino, E. C. and E. F. Pienaar (2018) “Understanding South African Private Landowner Decisions to Manage Rhinoceroses” Human Dimensions of Wildlife 23(2): 160-175.

Abstract: With increased poaching pressures, rhinoceroses have become a financial liability due to expensive anti-poaching security costs required to protect this species. Nonetheless, approximately one-third of South Africa’s rhinoceros population is protected on private lands. In a time when the future existence of rhinoceroses is uncertain, it is important to determine (a) the considerations included in private sector decisions to participate in rhinoceros conservation and (b) how increased conservation of rhinoceroses on private lands may be attained. We conducted semi-structured interviews with private wildlife ranchers and reserve managers in South Africa to answer these questions. Respondents cataloged financial (e.g., security costs, tourism revenues) and nonfinancial (e.g., psychological stresses, emotional attachment) factors that influence their decisions to keep rhinoceroses on their lands. Despite significant costs of rhinoceros ownership, rhinoceros owners were willing to engage in conservation efforts because of the nonfinancial benefits they derive from protecting rhinoceroses.

Rubino, E. C. and E. F. Pienaar (2017) “Applying a Conceptual Framework to Rhinoceros Conservation on Private Lands in South Africa” Endangered Species Research 34: 89–102.

Abstract: Although there is a large body of literature on rhinoceros (‘rhino’) conservation, a comprehensive analysis of the challenges inherent in rhino conservation is missing. In particular, the role of private landowners in rhino conservation has been insufficiently addressed, even though private landowners manage a third of the rhino population in South Africa. In this paper we apply a conceptual framework to the issue of rhino conservation on private lands in South Africa. The framework (1) visually illustrates the political and economic complexity of rhino conservation; (2) reveals how financial decision-making drives rhino conservation among private landowners; and (3) demonstrates how the costs that poaching imposes on private landowners (e.g. security costs) undermines their willingness to conserve rhinos on their land. We argue that current anti-poaching actions are insufficient to attain rhino conservation on private lands because these actions fail to address key components of the private landowners’ decision-making process. New actions that incentivize rhino management and conservation on private lands are required. To safeguard their family, clients, employees and rhinos from armed poachers, landowners require access to improved, lower cost security systems and technologies. To offset the costs of rhino protection and management (including acquiring and managing sufficient habitat to support rhinos), landowners require a renewable income stream that is directly linked to rhino conservation. We consider how legal trade in rhino horn may attain this second objective.