Africa’s Wildlife Champion Fights Poachers Seizing on Covid Tourism Drop
Photo Credit: Alina Peter, is the anti-poaching operations room coordinator at the Grumeti Reserve in Tanzania. The non-profit Grumeti Fund has found poaching on the rise as tourism has dropped off in the pandemic. Grumeti Fund
Skift Take
Alina Peter is on the frontlines fighting the rise of poaching in Africa. Here, she shares how she works, the situation on the ground, and why it's important to weave science, indigenous knowledge, and technical expertise to derail the growing commercialization of illicit poaching, all of which has deep implications for tourism.
The pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on African nations on many levels. As vaccine equality debates and larger political concerns escalate, significant challenges on the ground are escalating, too, related to containing poaching and the illegal animal trade.
Simply put, when Covid curtails tourism, jobs disappear and the poaching of wildlife for profit accelerates. Due to the lucrative nature of the trade, poaching for everything from rhino tusks and pangolin to simple bushmeat has always existed, but it is accelerating at an alarming rate.
On the frontlines of the battle is Alina Peter. She's the anti-poaching operations room coordinator at the Grumeti Reserve in Tanzania. The non-profit Grumeti Fund carries out wildlife conservation and community development programs in and around the Singita Grumeti Reserve. Here, she works with a dedicated team of staff, including 100 highly trained anti-poaching scouts, who come from the local communities borderin
