New C onservation Incentives

[Luker]

This is good news:

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/arti...tened-species/

[Messor]

Why is it in the hunting section?

[Daaf Malan]

A tax incentive for protecting wildlife is a novel idea, but the current government does not even know where they will get the funds to pay for grants after March 2024. And paying of grants, not conservation, is their number one priority, as there is no other way to get the masses of starving people to vote for them.

We farmers have been advocating for remuneration of stock losses caused by protected species for many years now. The principle is more or less the same and the effect on state coffers would be way less than putting guards at cycads. We protect and harbour certain species that causes losses to our stock, so why not get compensated? From all the proposals made, we only heard crickets. Some land owners are now contemplating paying money into a compensation fund in order to recover their losses, but why pay out of own pockets for animals that the government want to protect?

The very hairy truth is that conservation without funding is simply conversation and nothing will come of this tax incentive too.

[A-R]

For decades our conservation model was funded by hunting. Mostly on private land, that is, but some public parks have also sold hunts to keep afloat and fund their operations. This has resulted in the number of almost all species on private land exceeding the numbers of those species in the public parks. The North Americans used a similar model and their game numbers are thriving as well. It is a proven model that works.

Then certain "conservation" activists managed to disrupt this system for certain species, and took all monetary incentives out of the system for these species. White rhino being a prime example. They now can't be hunted legally, so they can not generate any revenue, making them a dead loss to private game owners. The lack of profitability also means there is no incentive beyond sentiment, to spend any cash on protecting them from the illegal trade (poaching).

Now we have this gem:

"The incentive for Threatened Species and Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), allows any South African taxpayer (private landowners, as well as individual trusts or companies) who are safeguarding threatened ecosystems or species, to deduct all expenses related to their conservation efforts from their taxable income."

I'm sorry to break this to all of you, but game farms usually operate as companies, and they have always been able to deduct operating expenditures, including "conservation efforts" from their "taxable income". I see no new incentive here. This may placate some wealthy individuals who want to deduct their donations to "conservation efforts" from their taxable income.

[A-R]

Why is it in the hunting section?

I see this as a serious threat to hunting. See explanation below.

[Messor]

I see this as a serious threat to hunting. See explanation below.

We, are, on the same page.

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