Written Assignment Unit 5

University of the People

Bus 1103: Microeconomics

Instructor Joseph Phiri

10/4/21
Introduction:

For many years, Africa has been known to house many exquisite species of animals, which has

led to people hunting many of these animals. For reasons such as explicitly for hunting as a

hobby and the second is because of the high amounts of poverty in the population. I will examine

which method will be most effective when an African government establishes national parks to

protect elephants or their habitat.

In theory, I believe that the best way to improve both the habitat/elephants and the poor villages

surrounding the parks is for the government to establish national parks and designate villages

around the park's edges as official tourist centers where tourists can stay and outpost for guided

tours inside the national park.

To begin with, by maintaining the parks in this manner, we will see poor villages begin to

improve their standard of living as a result of purchases made by tourists. There will be

numerous opportunities for the villagers to benefit. These are some examples:

1. Tourists are sold food as well as merchandise and souvenirs.

2. Providing services such as tour guides and security guards. Finally,

3. Making available a place to stay. These are just a few examples of opportunities for the

villagers to increase their income. This will help the region's economy.

Second, the government should reeducate the villagers on the importance of respecting and

protecting the habitat as well as the animals that live there. By doing so, the villagers can also

serve as a government anti-poaching unit. The villagers can maintain close contact with the

government to keep an eye out for poachers and, if necessary, alert the military. This is fantastic
because it will benefit both the elephants and the habitat, as well as the villagers and the

government. To ensure success, all of this should be well-implemented and planned ahead of

time.

I believe that by going this route, all parties involved will benefit. It would be a win-win

situation for the elephants and their habitat, as well as the villagers and the government. Of

course, this is just my theory, but I believe that if this plan is well planned and executed, it will

succeed.

Poaching is defined as "the illegal shooting, trapping, or taking of game, fish, or plants from

private property or from a place where such practices are specially reserved or forbidden."

Poaching is a major existential threat to many wild organisms around the world, and it

contributes significantly to biodiversity loss.” ("Poaching | Saving the Environment |

Encyclopedia Britannica," n.d.)In this case for Elephants, especially the tusks. Today, the

restrictions of Ivory, from the elephant tusks have significantly reduced because of countries

selling the stock of ivory.

The 5 highest buyers of ivory are China, Philipenes, Thailand, U.S, and Vietnam. The reason

why many elephants, aprox. 30,000 each year killed, are killed is because the demand is very

high therefore there will always be a supply for it legally or not. That’s why there are 2 ways that

we can do to decrease the number of killings. First and best way is through an international

effort, to ban, illegalize, and convince society not want to harm elephants, particularly their

tusks. Today, the restrictions on ivory derived from elephant tusks have been significantly

reduced as a result of countries selling their ivory stocks.

China, the Philippines, Thailand, the United States, and Vietnam are the top five buyers of ivory.

The reason for the large number of elephants killed each year (approximately 30,000) is that

demand is very high, so there will always be a supply for it whether it is legal or not. As a result,

there are two things we can do to reduce the number of killings. The first and best way is through

an international effort to prohibit, criminalize, and make something that society does not

consider a prize. This is done to keep total demand to a bare minimum. If the first method does

not work, the second is for environmental protection, which means protecting the land where the

elephants live so that poachers are not allowed to enter. As of now, the only thing that will work

is environmental protection because all countries are not cooperating to reduce demand. (Strauss,

2015)

Poaching is a negative externality because, while it has no effect on the purchaser, it increases

demand, ensuring that more elephants will be killed for another purchase. This is a negative

externality because it affects only the elephant poop, not the person buying or selling.

To summarize, because of the demand for tusks, many elephants will end up dead, and much

more money and effort from the government and individuals will be required to put a stop to this

illegal trade and acts.

References:

Poaching | Saving Earth | Encyclopedia Britannica. Saving Earth | Encyclopedia Britannica.

Retrieved 4 March 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/poaching.

Strauss, M. (2015). Who Buys Ivory? You’d Be Surprised. Pages. Retrieved 4 March 2021, from

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/150812-elephant-ivory-demand-wildlife-

traffickingchina-world