ABSTRACT
When Saltwater Crocodiles (Crocodylus
porosus) were protected in the Northern Territory in 1971, 26 years of
intense commercial hunting came to an end. Few adult crocodiles were left
anywhere, and the total population, heavily biased towards young juveniles, is
thought to have been less than 5000. In such low densities they no longer posed
a significant threat to people or livestock. At an international level,
crocodile and sea turtle conservation were both coming onto the environmentalist
agenda, and international trade was being targeted as the key threatening
process. In 1973 these concerns led to the conclusion of the CITES treaty in
Washington.
With the benefit of hindsight, the recovery of Saltwater Crocodiles in the
Northern Territory, which was carefully documented, was rather spectacular. But
by the early 1980's, with crocodiles both abundant and widespread, conflicts
developed about how best to manage the problems they were starting to cause for
people. Commercial consumptive use was deliberately introduced to create
incentives for conservation, in total contradiction to the ruling conservation
philosophy ("protectionism") of the day. Yet within 5 years, crocodilian
conservation on a global scale (with the exception of Queensland) had switched
from a protectionist approach to one based on sustainable use. The conservation
and economic advantages associated with the sustainable use of crocodilians are
discussed, as is the effectiveness and changing focus of CITES.
|
