The Game of Conservation: International Treaties to Protect the World's Migratory Animals

Chapter 1. Africa’s Apartheid Parks

Chapter 1 Africa’s฀Apartheid฀Parks The word “ivory” rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. —Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness Hermann฀ v on฀ Wissmann฀was฀one฀of฀Germany’s฀most฀renowned฀a frican ฀explorers.฀a ฀travel฀writer฀and฀big-game฀hunter,฀Wissmann฀was฀best฀ known฀for฀having฀traversed฀the฀southern฀Congo฀basin฀on฀behalf฀of฀Leopold฀ II,฀king฀of฀the฀Belgians,฀in฀the฀early฀1880s.฀Chancellor฀o tto฀von฀Bismarck฀ later฀asked฀him฀to฀govern฀German฀east฀a frica฀(which฀he฀did฀intermittently฀ from฀1888฀to฀1896),฀not฀least฀because฀he฀was฀skilled฀at฀suppressing฀colonial฀ revolts.฀o utwardly,฀there฀was฀little฀about฀Wissmann’s฀career฀that฀distinguished ฀him฀from฀other฀a frican฀imperialists฀of฀his฀day—r ichard฀Burton,฀ John฀Speke,฀Cecil฀r hodes,฀Frederick฀Courteney฀Selous,฀H.฀m.฀Stanley,฀and฀ Carl฀Peters฀among฀them—except฀in฀one฀regard:฀he฀was฀the฀primary฀champion ฀of฀an฀international฀conference฀that฀would฀result฀in฀the฀London฀Convention ฀for฀the฀Preservation฀of฀Wild฀a nimals,฀Birds,฀and฀Fish฀in฀a frica฀in฀ 1900฀(hereafter฀the฀1900฀London฀Convention).1 ฀ a ll฀ of฀ a frica’s฀ major฀ colonial฀ powers฀ attended฀ the฀ conference฀ and฀ signed฀ the฀ 1900฀ London฀ Convention:฀ Great฀ Britain,฀ France,฀ Portugal,฀ Spain,฀Belgium,฀Germany,฀and฀Italy.฀The฀first฀four฀had฀colonized฀prior฀to฀ Africa’s฀Apartheid฀Parks฀฀|฀15 the฀1880s,฀mostly฀along฀the฀a frican฀coastline.฀Britain’s฀historical฀stronghold ฀lay฀in฀the฀Cape฀Colony฀(the฀nucleus฀of฀today’s฀r epublic฀of฀South฀a frica ),฀on฀the฀continent’s฀southern฀tip.฀The฀Suez฀Canal,฀completed฀in฀1869,฀ also฀gave฀Britain฀a฀toehold฀in฀egypt,฀though฀that฀region฀was฀still฀nominally฀ under฀the฀o ttoman฀empire’s฀control.฀a lgiers฀(a lgeria)฀was฀France’s฀most฀ important฀colony,฀but฀some฀of฀the฀coastal฀towns฀and฀hinterlands฀of฀westcentral ฀a frica฀(the฀nucleus฀of฀Senegal,฀Gabon,฀and฀a฀few฀other฀regions)฀ were฀also฀within฀its฀orbit.฀Portugal฀controlled฀a ngola฀on฀the฀a tlantic฀side฀ of฀the฀continent฀and฀mozambique฀on฀the฀Indian฀o cean฀side.฀The฀Spanish฀ influence฀was฀largely฀limited฀to฀the฀Canary฀Islands฀and฀a฀couple฀of฀specks฀ (Ceuta฀and฀Fernando฀Po)฀along฀the฀northern฀and฀western฀coastline.2 ฀ Belgium,฀Germany,฀and฀Italy฀were฀new฀colonial฀powers.฀The฀Belgian฀ presence฀began฀in฀the฀mid-1880s฀when฀Leopold฀II฀took฀possession฀of฀the฀ Congo฀Free฀State฀(later฀Zaire฀and฀now฀the฀Democratic฀r epublic฀of฀the฀ Congo),฀deep฀in฀the฀heart฀of฀a frica,฀and฀ruled฀it฀as฀his฀personal฀fiefdom.฀a ฀ brutal฀overlord฀even฀by฀european฀standards,฀Leopold฀II฀turned฀his฀Congo฀ colony฀into฀a฀rubber-,฀copper-,฀and฀ivory-producing฀sweatshop฀until฀his฀ death฀in฀1909,฀when฀it฀was฀turned฀over฀to฀a฀much-embarrassed฀Belgian฀ government฀to฀administer.฀Germany’s฀presence฀in฀a frica฀also฀began฀in฀the฀ mid-1880s,฀when฀Bismarck฀took฀possession฀of฀German฀east฀a frica฀(roughly฀ Tanzania฀minus฀Zanzibar),฀German฀Southwest฀a frica฀(n amibia),฀Togoland ฀(Togo฀and฀part฀of฀Ghana),฀and฀the฀Cameroons฀(Cameroon฀and฀part฀ of฀n igeria).฀The฀Italians฀seized฀most฀of฀Somaliland฀(Somalia)฀in฀1885.3 ฀ The฀colonization฀of฀a frica฀proceeded฀slowly฀until฀the฀1880s,฀but฀once฀ the฀parvenu฀powers฀arrived,฀european฀statesmen฀began฀meeting฀periodically ฀to฀settle฀their฀differences฀and฀forge฀common฀policies.฀a t฀the฀Berlin฀ Conference฀(1884–85),฀they฀established฀the฀rules฀of฀the฀game฀for฀future฀ landgrabs,฀agreeing฀that฀colonizing฀governments฀had฀to฀take฀real฀possession ฀of฀the฀land฀they฀claimed฀with฀settlers฀and฀troops,฀not฀just฀take฀paper฀ possession฀through฀fanciful฀maps฀and฀colorful฀flags.฀Following฀the฀principle ฀of฀so-called฀free฀trade,฀they฀also฀banned฀import฀and฀transit฀duties฀in฀ the฀colonized฀territories฀and฀set฀up฀the฀framework฀for฀future฀consultations฀ among฀the฀colonial฀powers.฀Four฀years฀later,฀at฀the฀Brussels฀Conference฀ (1889),฀they฀decided฀to฀stamp฀out฀the฀internal฀slave฀trade,฀which฀was฀still฀ extant฀in฀Zanzibar฀and฀some฀other฀a rab-controlled฀regions฀of฀a frica.฀They฀ also฀decided฀to฀restrict฀the฀types฀of฀firearms฀and฀ammunition฀that฀could฀be฀ sold฀to฀black฀a fricans฀between฀the฀twentieth฀parallel฀north฀and฀twentieth฀ parallel฀south฀(roughly฀south฀of฀the฀Sahara฀and฀north฀of฀Boer฀territory)฀and฀ to฀sanction฀the฀introduction฀of฀colonial฀gun฀licenses฀and฀big-game฀hunting฀ 16฀฀|฀The฀Game฀of฀Conservation restrictions.฀a ฀few฀years฀later,฀the฀Congo฀Free฀State,฀France,฀and฀Portugal฀ met฀separately฀to฀sign฀and฀ratify฀the฀Congo฀Basin฀Convention฀(1892),฀which฀ created฀uniform฀export฀duties...