RE: According to new research, armed conflict is the best predictor of decline of wildlife in Africa, much more so than mining, corrupt governments or urban development
Nice post as always!
This basically means that when war breaks out in an area, animals that live in the surrounding areas (even if the areas are protected), will have a population decline most of the time. This might seem obvious to many of you, but it has actually been heavily debated due to conflicting evidence. Some scientists believed it might be positive for the wildlife, while others believed it was a negative.
Even though I have a PhD in neuroscience, I distrust science most of the time. Often very cumbersome way to describe reality. For me it is pretty obvious that wars (especially the gerilja war that is epidemic in Africa) is damaging to wild life. The bush meat industry is growing every year, and I do not see that trend reversing given the explosive population growth in Africa, which will certainly lead to more tensions in the whole region. As just one example the giraffe is very vulnerable, because it is easy to catch and gives a lot of meat, and is now a vulnerable species.
Thank you, @janusface!
I see why you think of it as cumbersome; most research today is researching extremely tiny parts of a larger system, and it can be pretty challenging to piece it together to see the big picture.
The bush meat industry is pretty interesting to look at, because it does not only affect areas that are affected by war. I can't link a source about it, but I remember reading even export of bush meat had increased in the last few years, because people wanted this taste even after moving away from their home country where they got to know it.