Prince William has warned that Africa’s population and its increase has put wildlife “under enormous pressure”. He gave this warning while speaking at a gala hosted by the Tusk Trust on Thursday.
The Tusk Trust is a charity that works to protect wildlife in Africa, where William is the patron. In 2017, he told an audience at the Roundhouse in London: “In my life, we have seen the world’s wild animal population decline further. by half. Africa’s rapidly growing human population is expected to double by 2050 – a staggering 3.5 million people per month. There is no doubt that this increase is putting wildlife and habitat under pressure. ” He had also said that “Urbanization, infrastructure development, culture – all good things in and of themselves, but they will have a terrible impact if we don’t start planning and taking action now.” He further opined that “On human populations alone, overgrazing and scarcity of water resources could have a catastrophic effect if we do not start thinking about how to alleviate these challenges and ensure that humans and other animal species with which we share this planet continue to coexist.”
Prince William is the father of three – George, Charlotte and Louis. His words echo those of his grandfather, Prince Philip, a father of four, who previously said that there were just too many people to feed “because of overpopulation,” and maintained that “voluntary family limitation” is a fix for the problem.
His speech has put him in the line of fire as he has suffered a public backlash after once again accusing the African population of “endangering wildlife ”. While some critics claim his position is “superficial” without historical facts especially when placed against the fact that the African continent has the most impressive diversity of flora and fauna.
His consistent stance on the population of Africa as a factor that is solely responsible for wildlife has been heavily criticized by many. The UK is one of the most nature-impoverished countries in the world according to an expert report. However, the Duke ignores this fact, deliberately or intentionally commenting on such matters.
By far the largest wildlife losses in Africa occurred in the early 1900s when Europeans came with guns and hunted across the continent. To blame African civilians is to completely ignore the history of Africa. It is also a mischievous attempt to project a narrative that fits an undisclosed agenda.
On twitter, Dr John Njenga Karugia PhD. (@ Johnnjenga) November 24, 2021, highlighted the fact that Africa has the least population density (36.4 per square kilometre) when compared with Asia (100 per square kilometre) and Europe (72.9 per square kilometre).
