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This study briefly discusses the relatively young private wildlife industry of South Africa which surfaced in the late 1990s, early 2000s. The industry has unique conservation management models and land uses that include hunting, breeding and game sales and ecotourism and by-products as well as mixed farming practices that include stock and crop fa...
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... Costelloe et al. (2016) maintain that rather than making land available for conservation, management strategies within already available land should be improved to increase efficiency of wildlife management. There is little or no planning for land management practices and generalized methods are applied regardless of the species composition (Child et al., 2013;von Solms & van der Merwe, 2020). These land management practices generally favor species of greater economic interest and because these species are mostly generalist species, this has led to unsuccessful introductions of specialist species, as well as extirpation of other specialist species in the past (Child et al., 2013;Curveira-Santos et al., 2021). ...
... Currently 82.2% of land in South Africa is used for agriculture (Dry, 2011;Taylor et al., 2016). About a third (3000 out of over 9600) of the wildlife ranches practice a mixed-ranch system where both wildlife and livestock are farmed (Dry, 2011;von Solms & van der Merwe, 2020). Furthermore, contact between livestock and wildlife has been documented indicating that the current management practices in South Africa do not, or cannot, effectively prevent interactions between wildlife and livestock (Brahmbhatt et al., 2012;Jori & Etter, 2016). ...
Genetic diversity is a fundamental measure of a populations ability to adapt to future environmental change. Subpopulations may carry unique genetic lineages that contribute to fitness and genetic diversity of species across their distribution range. Therefore, considerations, or lack thereof, of genetic diversity in wildlife management practices may result in either population persistence or extinction over time. Some management tools may pose a greater risk to a species' survival than others when populations are impacted. In South Africa, there has been great interest to translocate animals, sometimes with little consideration to the potential impacts on the species and/or populations survival. Thus, there is a need to collate scientific information to better inform decision‐making and review these management practices and their effects on populations. Here, we focus on three antelope species, the blue duiker (Philantomba monticola), oribi (Ourebia ourebi), and tsessebe (Damaliscus lunatus). We review the genetic status of each species across South Africa, with regards to taxonomy, genetic diversity and population structure, threats that may compromise the genetic diversity within species and across populations, conservation management actions and how they may compromise or benefit the genetic status and lastly make recommendations on possible alternative management actions and future research to inform conservation policy and sustainable management practice. In South Africa, there has been great interest to translocate animals, sometimes with little consideration for the genetic integrity of the species. Thus, in this review, we collate scientific information to better inform decision‐making and review these management practices and their effects on species integrity.
... Héctor Ceballos-Lascuráin (1992, 1996 defined ecotourism as visiting fragile, unspoiled, protected areas (Mckinney 2016;Saayman 2009). The complete experience helps in educating tourists (in this context, about frogs), provides funds for nature and cultural conservation and raises respect for the environments and cultures found in these areas (Newsome et al. 2013;Orams 1995;Tisdell & Wilson 2012;Von Solms & Van der Merwe 2020;Willemen et al. 2015). ...
... Tourists want to feel that they contribute to biodiversity conservation and practise sustainable tourism (Herzl 2019). Conservation is one of the primary components of ecotourism (Newsome et al. 2013;Tisdell & Wilson 2012;Von Solms & Van der Merwe 2020), and the finding that it is a factor is important as one would like tourists to visit protected areas to support conservation, which can improve frog conservation too. ...
Amid global biodiversity loss, it is important to find practical tools and solutions in order to protect biodiversity. Ecotourism is the fastest-growing sector of the international travel industry and can be a powerful conservation tool that encourages people to protect the natural environment. Traditionally, frogs have not generated much attention among ecotourists, partly because they are easily overshadowed by other more charismatic species or habitat attractions. With almost a third of the nearly 7000 known amphibian species listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), their protection is crucial. Frogging is a well-known term within the frog conservation society, describing the activity of searching for frogs in the wild. This can be combined with other ecotourism activities to attract tourists and create an interest in the conservation of frogs while having fun at the same time. The aim was to determine the ecotourism potential of frogs in South Africa, primarily by distributing questionnaires to tourists to retrieve information on whether they would be interested in participating in frog-related ecotourism activities within the South African National Parks. For this research, a quantitative research approach was followed, namely non-probability sampling, to which convenience sampling was applied. An online survey (questionnaire) was designed to collect the data for the research. The survey outcome was satisfactory, as potential tourists indicated that they would like to participate in frog-related activities. The project offers the opportunity to conserve frogs, educate tourists, and create job opportunities within the local communities. It will also create a new tourism product for the South African National Parks.
Conservation implications: The contribution of this research to conservation lies in the opportunity to benefit frog conservation through ecotourism.
During the last two decades, the number of Hungarian family farms has declined, while average farm size has grown. To identify the drivers of farm size growth, the paper investigates the importance of human capital along with leadership skills, farm and spatial farm regional location characteristics, and government subsidies for Hungarian family farms using a Farm Accountancy Data Network dataset for the period 2007 to 2015. The application of quantile regression models and their findings suggest that leadership skills have little effect on the growth of Hungarian family farms. In contrast to the effect of skills, the general characteristics of the family farms (such as farm size, farm type, and state subsidies) determine their growth. Smaller family farms grew faster than bigger family farms. The non-linear relationship between farm size growth and farm type as well as state subsidies is confirmed for different quantiles of farm size. The findings suggest that the ongoing process of family farm restructuring depends on the latter’s size and pertains to family farm characteristics and government policies. The market selection process of farms and farm restructuring, along with a decline in the number of farms and their size growth, is likely to continue due in part to climate change and the robotization and digitalization of farms and will be affected by the resilience of different farm types.
