David
Chancellor

elephant story

There are many things that brought me to this point. British writer George Orwell first published a story titled ‘Shooting an Elephant’ in the literary magazine New Writing in late 1936 and broadcast by the BBC Home Service in 1948. It describes the experience of the English narrator, possibly Orwell himself, called on to shoot an aggressive elephant while working as a police officer. Because the locals expect him to do the job, he does so, but against his better judgment; his anguish increased by the elephant’s slow and painful death. I read this story as a child, and when many years later I found myself faced with the death of elephant, his words came flooding back to me.
At that time I was documenting The Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE), which is a Zimbabwean community-based natural resource management program. It was one of the first to consider wildlife as a “renewable natural resource”, while addressing the allocation of its ownership to indigenous peoples in and around conservation protected areas. The 1975 Parks and Wildlife Act set the legal basis for CAMPFIRE by allowing communities and private landowners to utilize wildlife on their land, marking a substantial shift from previous policy which made it illegal for local populations to utilize wildlife in any way. In Zimbabwe, population pressures have resulted in people living on communal lands, much of which is arid and unsuitable for farming. CAMPFIRE allows individuals to earn income on these lands through “sustainable use of the environment and wildlife”Managed through Rural District Councils, they distribute contracts for safari hunting and tourism and allocate the revenue to local wards. Because the financial benefits are clearly linked to wildlife, it’s believed CAMPFIRE helped to develop positive attitudes surrounding wildlife conservation. Public awareness campaigns funded by revenues have been effective in reducing harmful community behaviour towards wildlife; villagers are more likely to report neighbours for illegal poaching. I find myself asking as Orwell did: are we acting because it’s expected of us, even though it’s against our better judgement?

World Press Photo Award in 2010