Resource Africa and fake grassroots movements
Is Resource Africa continuing to provide cover for those in power under the guise of supporting rural communities?
The Wise Use Movement was a fake grassroots anti-environmental movement that started in 1998 and lasted for a little over a decade. It was financed and coordinated by extractive industries fighting against government regulations but relied heavily upon the perception that it was actually rural communities that were rising up against government overreach.
Ron Arnold, the leader of the Wise Use Movement, didn’t try hard to hide the goal of the movement though. He stated, “Our goal is to destroy, to eradicate the environmental movement. We want to be able to exploit the environment for private gain, absolutely.”
The movement also birthed wildlife conservation’s very own sustainable use movement. As I previously discussed, sustainable use founding fathers Steve Edwards and Grahame Webb took part in the Wise Use Movement and first introduced the concept to the IUCN under the name ‘wise use.’
But Edwards and Webb weren’t alone. Many members of sustainable use group Resource Africa took part in the Wise Use Movement back when the group was called Africa Resources Trust.
Connections between Resource Africa and the fake grassroots Wise Use Movement
Sustainable use founding father Jon Hutton was a member of Africa Resources Trust and was featured in many articles written by Wise Use groups, particularly denial think tank Competitive Enterprise Institute.
A 1994 CEI article titled Protecting endangered species half to death discussed how regulations on wildlife hunting and trade had negative impacts and featured Hutton discussing “economic incentives” for Nile crocodile conservation. Another 1999 article from CEI promoted legal ivory trade for its rural community benefits and featured Hutton defending CAMPFIRE.
Hutton was also featured in an article that promoted legal rhino horn trade written by climate change denier Roger Bate. Bate was a colleague of sustainable use activist Michael ‘t Sas-Rolfes at Institute of Economic Affairs, a UK-based think tank that published climate denial and tobacco disinformation.
Sas-Rolfes produced a report titled Does CITES Work? which was published by Institute of Economic Affairs and copyright by Africa Resources Trust.
Interestingly, the Institute of Economic Affairs webpage suggested that readers of Sas-Rolfes’s report should also read the climate change denial propaganda that they published.
CEI was a member of the Alliance for America, a prominent coalition of Wise Use groups. Mongoven, Biscoe & Duchin, a public relations group hired by tobacco corporations to fight regulations, identified both CEI and Alliance for America as allies for their Get Government Off Our Back (GGOOB) campaign in which they used the issue of personal rights to advance corporate power.
Alliance for America held annual “Fly-In For Freedom” conferences where they promoted their three tenets.
Humans come first (NOT animals or plants).
Economics determine what is environmentally feasible.
Private property rights must be protected.
The 1995 “Fly-In For Freedom” conference featured Ike Sugg of CEI and IUCN, sustainable use founding father Grahame Webb, Eugene Lapointe of IWMC, and Elizabeth Rihoy of Africa Resources Trust. Interestingly, there was mention of a debate concerning the virtue of the IUCN, with Elizabeth Rihoy, Grahame Webb, and Ike Sugg defending it to some extent.
[Former CITES Secretary-General Eugene LaPointe’s sustainable use group IWMC worked with Big Tobacco on wildlife trade issues. Read more about that here.]
The 1996 Alliance for America "Fly-In For Freedom” conference featured these three speakers one after another: Georg Blichfeldt of High North Alliance, Judy Mashinya of Africa Resources Trust, and Ike Sugg of CEI and IUCN.
The inclusion of Blichfeldt from High North Alliance is an important piece of information. High North Alliance was supposed to be featured at a pro-whaling conference set up by climate change denier S. Fred Singer that eventually fell through once actual scientists caught on to deception.
Should we be concerned about Resource Africa’s current work?
In 2021, Resource Africa received $342,770 from Jamma International, a foundation run by European elites that is hiring a full-time sustainable use propagandist. Resource Africa has also recently started supporting the Community Leaders Network as a way to promote sustainable use.
I’m concerned that the recent influx of money from elites and the focus on rural communities to promote a specific economic ideology in conservation reflects too closely the Wise Use Movement that ended two decades ago. I think we may be looking at another example of Resource Africa providing cover for a fake grassroots movement that serves to benefit those in power.
I understand sustainable use activists might want to dismiss my concern and label all the evidence as simple coincidences. I think this is naïve and, once again, plays into the hands of those in power.
We all need to beware the win-win-win prophets. There is no reality where something is good for elites AND rural communities AND wildlife.
Dear Jared,
thanks so much for all your investigative work. The German hunting organisation called Deutscher Jagdverband e.V. is trying to convience our parliament that trophy hunting is sustainable etc., same arguments as in the UK, as a lot of animal rights organisations are trying to get a ban for importing hunting trophies.
They work also close with Resource Africa e.g. Bupe Banda. She received the communication prize 2022 from the CIC. Here is the link: http://www.cic-wildlife.org/resource-africa-receives-2022-cic-communications-prize/
Resource Africe is supported from the trophy hunting industry. I haven't any doubt!
I will try to get your article translated with your original link to share it on FB asap.
Best wishes,
Necla