Many governments and conservation organisations have argued that hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists are responsible, in considerable part, for environmental degradation and biodiversity losses in southern Africa. Particular attention has been paid to alleged wildlife losses, especially elephants in Botswana. This article considers some of the issues surrounding hunting bans and protected areas with a view to conserving elephants. In Botswana, local people were removed from protected areas after being blamed for declines in wildlife numbers. Utilising government and other scientific wildlife data, the hunting ban cannot be shown to have had any significant impact on the conservation of elephants and other game species. Local people argue that many of their activities are sustainable, maintaining that they are generally not responsible for biodiversity losses and environmental degradation. Population growth, the expansion of agricultural, livestock and mining activities, the construction of veterinary cordon fences and increases in water point distribution have led to localised environmental degradation. The 'great elephant debate' became an important political issue during the run-up to the Botswana elections of October 2019. Local communities sought to ensure that they would be able to obtain benefits from wildlife tourism which had been denied them during the hunting ban.

中文翻译：

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博茨瓦纳的狩猎采集者，农民与环境恶化

许多政府和保护组织认为，狩猎采集者，农民和牧民在很大程度上负责南部非洲的环境退化和生物多样性丧失。特别关注了据称的野生动植物损失，特别是博茨瓦纳的大象。本文考虑了有关狩猎禁令和保护区的一些问题，以保护大象。在博茨瓦纳，当地人被指责为野生动植物数量减少而被从保护区撤离。利用政府和其他野生动植物科学数据，不能证明狩猎禁令对大象和其他猎物的保护有重大影响。当地人认为，他们的许多活动都是可持续的，维持他们通常对生物多样性丧失和环境退化不负责任。人口增长，农业，畜牧业和采矿活动的扩大，兽医警戒网的建设以及水位分布的增加导致局部环境恶化。在2019年10月博茨瓦纳大选前夕，“大象辩论”成为一个重要的政治问题。当地社区试图确保他们能够从狩猎禁令中被拒绝的野生动植物旅游中获得收益。兽医警戒围栏的建造和水位分布的增加导致局部环境恶化。在2019年10月博茨瓦纳大选前夕，“大象辩论”成为一个重要的政治问题。当地社区试图确保他们能够从狩猎禁令中被拒绝的野生动植物旅游中获得收益。兽医警戒围栏的建造和水位分布的增加导致局部环境恶化。在2019年10月博茨瓦纳大选前夕，“大象辩论”成为一个重要的政治问题。当地社区试图确保他们能够从狩猎禁令中被拒绝的野生动植物旅游中获得收益。