Land n Sand June 2013 | Page 47

Among all the controversy surrounding those beaches, we were nevertheless grateful to have found and ridden such an amazing new spot. We continued to mind our own business when officials or poachers passed our way. What they were doing to the natural and social environment, as well as the limitations they placed on civilians like us wanting to explore the beautiful country and nature did then, and continues to hurt us all today. We absorbed as much stoke as we could bear and returned to the tar road through the poacher trails and headed home. The plundering will continue for years to come and will probably only halt when the resources are depleted. Then, of course, poachers’ attention will be focused on other marine life that is in demand, like limpets, snails, and fish. Should such demand not exist they will shift focus to crimes like housebreaking or auto theft. Unfortunately, the need for basic survival and even wealth is so overwhelming that the consequences and effects of such irresponsible activi- ties will negatively benefit their own future and that of their offspring. Trying to resolve the problem by catching them red handed or taking out the kingpins of syndicates will solve absolutely nothing if the source of the business is not dismantled. The solution is to eliminate the traffic to foreign markets by banning the consumption of these creatures, or at least the importation thereof. Dismantle the kingpins on those shores and cut the chain, the same way drug cartels are eradicated. the poacher trails