The 5th Empire - Wildlife

We are in the middle of a wildlife extinction event, and humans are almost certainly to blame. Large animals are hunted to extinction and smaller animals are disappearing due to a lack of bio-diversity. Chemical spraying may also play an important role.

Many conclude from this that government must act to save the planet. However, this ignores the fact that government is largely to blame for these problems, and that private solutions have proven effective in stopping and even reversing much of this.

The most effective way to stop large animals from being hunted to extinction is to make the ownership and management of them profitable. If large animals are seen as worthless nuisance, local farmers and hunters will take pot shots at them whenever the opportunity arises. However, if the animals are seen as valuable property and a source of revenues, people will make sure the animals are properly taken care of.

Privately run wildlife reserves attract business by offering safaris and limited hunting rights. The owners, seeking to maximize their profits, will make sure the animals are safe and that the number of specimens shot is within a sustainable quota. As long as the owners feel confident that they will continue to own the land and animals for the foreseeable future, they will refrain from excessive hunting.

This type of arrangements have been successful wherever they has been tried. The stronger the property rights, the better they work. Owners do not want to run down their capital to make a quick profit if it means no profits in the future.

The 5th Empire has strong property rights, and is therefore likely to take good care of large animals. There will be all sorts of wildlife reserves. Some run privately for profit and others run by charities. There will be interactions between charities, private businesses and the local communities. There will be hotels and privately organized safaris, all designed and operated in ways that maximize return and sustainability.

The 5th Empire will also have greater bio-diversity than what we see in state run society. This is because the corporate structure applied to modern farming is a creation of the state. Large corporations are easier to tax and regulate than smaller ones. State run society is therefore full of large scale businesses. All sorts of taxes and regulations exist for the sole purpose of keeping smaller businesses down. This results in large farms with endless fields of single crops, and hardly a wild flower or fruit tree in sight. Needless to say, this is not good for bio-diversity.

Safari - By Muhammad Mahdi Karim - Own work, GFDL 1.2, Link