Mugurameno villagers appeal for relief food
By Oswald Sichone in Kafue
Sun 10 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
VILLAGERS in Mugurameno area in Kafue district have appealed to the government to help them with relief food because their crop fields had been destroyed by wild animals.
The villagers made an appeal when area member of parliament Obvious Mwaliteta visited the area to try and resolve land disputes which have characterised the Goba chiefdom.
Margaret Kambanje, who spoke on behalf of the other villagers, said they had stopped farming because their fields were being destroyed by elephants and hippos which had terrorised the area.
"The problem we have here in Mugurameno is that every time an elephant kills a human being or destroys our crop field, ZAWA does not come to our aid; they say that we don't have transport and bullets to kill the animals. But when an elephant or hippo has been killed, the whole place is filled with ZAWA officials, even those from Lusaka find their way here. Maybe, it's because they want to share the meat from the slain animals. ZAWA seems to be more concerned about wildlife than the lives of human beings," Kambanje complained.
She said the damage that was done to their crops by the elephants was irreparable, adding that most villagers were surviving on local wild fruits known as 'Masau'.
Kambanje also appealed to Mwaliteta to help them have a police post in the area, saying lack of police presence had resulted in a lot of criminal acts.
"Ba honorable, we don't have a police post in the whole chiefdom, and this has resulted in lawlessness; recently, some women were arrested by Chirundu police because they blocked the road and broke a vehicle belonging to ZAWA after an elephant killed a human being. We need para-military officers here in Mugurameno to protect us because we are located at the border with Zimbabwe where anything can happen at any time," said Kambanje.
And Mwaliteta instructed Kafue district administrative officer Ngoni Moyo who had accompanied him to Mugurameno to take note of the villagers' concerns and ensure that they benefit from relief food that is given under the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit.
Mwaliteta assured them that the government would do everything possible to ensure that no human being in Mugurameno died of hunger, adding that he would engage stakeholders in order to secure food for the people of Chiawa.
Mugurameno, which is 150 kilometres south east of Kafue, is well known for its frequent cases of human-animal conflicts and this has made the area hunger-stricken. Villagers survive on fish and government relief food.
Labels: HUNGER, KAFUE, WILDLIFE
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(HERALD ZW) Sanctions, untold story behind the Hwange ecological disaster">(HERALD ZW) Sanctions, untold story behind the Hwange ecological disaster
September 24, 2013 silence muchemwa Headlines, Top Stories
kasukuwere13march2
Isdore Guvamombe recently in HWANGE—-
THE ecological disaster in Hwange National Park, where over 81 elephants and an indeterminate number of other animals succumbed to poacher-induced cyanide poisoning, has been attributed to the West’s illegal economic sanctions that affected Zimbabwe’s once-vibrant wildlife management system.
Hwange National Park — Africa’s third largest wildlife sanctuary after Kenya’s Serengeti and South Africa’s Kruger national parks — covers roughly 14 650 square kilometres, roughly
the size of Switzerland, and naturally demands vast resources to effectively police and manage.
Prior to the imposition of the West’s illegal economic sanctions, the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority had a proud history of effective management, underpinned by an elaborate National Conservation Strategy, introduced by Government in the mid-1980s.
Week-long investigations at the vast national park, revealed that failure by parks rangers to thwart increasing poaching was a manifestation of the fiscal constraints that left the authority, severely incapacitated.
The latest survey conducted by Parks in conjunction with the World Bank, found that the authority needed at least US$40 million to get back on track.
It is still a mystery how, on the back of increased elephant populations of 120 000 against the country’s holding capacity of 56 000 and the sanctions- induced dwindling of human and material resources, the authority has still managed to operate with a paltry 50 rangers against a requirement of 500.
The world standard space for each elephant is one beast per square kilometre, yet in Hwange National Park alone there are 45 000 elephants against a holding capacity of 14 600.
That in itself, entails that the authority actually needed more resources instead of sanctions.
Parks has effectively been operating at 54 percent of its operational vehicle requirement and out of that, most of the vehicles are half-runners, making them not only difficult, but dangerous to use.
Most rangers, the equivalent of foot soldiers, have gone without their bush allowances backdated to two years to three years ago.
In some cases, the rangers have been forced to go on 21-day patrols without the requisite food rations and protective clothing such as patrol boots, sleeping bags and safe drinking water.
Some have gone without uniforms, and carried home blankets and canvas shoes.
Parks used to conduct aerial patrols, but sanctions brought that operation to a halt, resulting in the authority leasing out one of its helicopters to Shearwater Helicopters in Victoria Falls, to at least get some cash out of it, instead of grounding the chopper.
To resuscitate aerial operations, parks would require 20 000 litres of JetA1.
They also require 130, four wheel drive vehicles.
Environment, Water and Climate Minister Cde Saviour Kasukuwere said his ministry was looking for more resources, saying it would also embark on massive wildlife conservation awareness campaigns in communities bordering national parks.
“For us we are obviously going to raise more resources to enable parks to work. That is the first thing. We are also going to raise more awareness in communities and we are going to engage the Judiciary so that we make it very difficult for the poachers through stringent and deterrent jail sentences.’’
Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Engineer Walter Mzembi, insists his ministry had introduced two statutory instruments to allow companies in the industry to acquire equipment and vehicles without paying duty, to cushion them from the effects of the illegal sanctions. National Parks, therefore, could use the same to recapitalise.
“Our tourism is based on wildlife and tourists want to come and see our wildlife and not our hotels. If the biodiversity disappears, then we will have nothing left.
“We have seen that we have no capacity to respond to a disaster of this nature. Going forward we need to find resources to recapitalise and increase the capacity of this important tourism stakeholder.
“I have talked to Minister Chinamasa about extending the two statutory instruments for the next five years, after they expired with the UNWTO general assembly,” said Minister Mzembi.
National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority manages 5 million hectares of land or 13 percent of Zimbabwe’s total land area and vital to note is the fact that most of the parks are located in natural ecological Regions Four and Five or rugged mountainous areas, which would not have much alternative economic use.
To worsen its woes, the authority has a mandate to manage the entire wildlife population of Zimbabwe, whether on private or communal lands, as per dictates of the Parks and Wildlife Act (1975).
Labels: SANCTIONS, WILDLIFE
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(MONITOR UG) Apaa locals demand meeting with Museveni over land row
By Cissy Makumbi
Posted Thursday, September 27 2012 at 01:00
An elder speaks during a meeting in Pabbo Sub-county headquarters on Saturday. Locals resolved to meet the President over the Apaa land stand-off. PHOTO BY CISSY MAKUMBI.
In Summary
Pabbo Clan chief says he cannot sit by and watch his subjects become squatters on their own land.
Amuru
Residents of Apaa Village, in Pabbo Sub-county in Amuru District are demanding audience with President Museveni following escalating land wrangles between them and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
UWA has in the recent past evicted 6,000 residents from a disputed piece of land in Apaa that the Authority says belongs to East Madi Game Reserve. However, residents claim the 825 square kilometers of land is their ancestral property.
During a meeting over the standoff on Saturday, the residents resolved that since local mechanisms earlier used, including court, failed to solve the problem, they want the President’s intervention as many of them have become squatters.
Pabbo clan chief Jakeo Acaye Agole said he will not sit by and watch as violence is meted on his subjects by UWA warders, backed by the army and police, as well as eviction and destruction of their property. “I will spearhead the meeting with the President so that our people [can] settle once and for all to focus on development,” Mr Agole said, adding that it’s shameful to see his people suffer on their own land.
Pabbo Sub-county chairman Christopher Ojera, also an NRM party mobiliser, said it is important that the President listens to the people’s plea since many of them have nowhere to settle. He said residents who have settled on a particular land should not be disturbed and instead the area de-gazetted as land for settlement. “... but the unoccupied areas should be left as a game reserve,” he added.
The disputed area had 1,700 households, many of which had just resettled after leaving IDP camps.
But following the evictions, many people returned to former Pabbo IDP camp where they stayed for years during the LRA insurgency.
editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
Labels: LAND REFORM, LAND RIGHTS, WILDLIFE
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(THE SOUTH AFRICAN) ‘Poaching Wars’: Meet the men who risk their lives to protect rhinos
Rhino are being shot at a rate of more than two a day in South Africa, for the simple fact that rhino horn is valued at more per kilogram than gold. This ITV documentary goes to South Africa to meet the armed men employed to guard rhinos in the Kruger Park, as well as rhino owners who have resorted to unorthodox ways of protecting their animals, such as dehorning them or training elephants to track poachers.
By TheSouthAfrican.com on 14 August, 2013 4:31 pm in Entertainment, Featured, Film & TV, News
Tom Hardy elephant (Medium)
In Poaching Wars With Tom Hardy, a two-part ITV documentary starting on 22 August, BAFTA award-winning actor Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) travels to South Africa, Botswana and Tanzania to find out why poaching has reached crisis levels and to see for himself what can be done to stop the killing. Having heard some appalling stories about the poaching industry, Tom is galvanised into action.
“All over Sub-Saharan Africa, the poaching crisis is spreading like a plague. Cameroon, Chad, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have all seen large-scale elephant slaughter and throughout the rest of Africa, rhino and elephant are being killed in alarming numbers. The everyday effect of the poaching business on African wildlife is one of horror and cruelty that brutalises both the animals and the humans involved,” Tom notes.
“Like most of us I have a love for Africa’s magnificent animals. As a result I find it hard to stomach the poaching crisis sweeping the continent and pushing these amazing animals to the edge of extinction. Without doubt the rhino and elephant are facing extinction well within our lifetime and the war on poaching is being lost. I’m making these documentaries because it’s something practical I can do to ask some questions that need to be asked.”
He starts his journey in South Africa, where 80 percent of the world’s rhino are found. With rhino poaching on the increase, they’re in big trouble – 553 animals have already been poached since January, almost as many as were shot in the whole of 2012 (at least 600).
The killing is happening on such a massive scale that rhino are being shot at a rate of more than two a day, for the simple fact that rhino horn is valued at more per kilogram than gold.
For 20 years Miles Lappeman has been trying to address the balance by breeding rhino on his huge estate but in November 2012, a team of poachers breached his security fences and shot eight of his 22 animals.
Miles shows Tom the body of one of his dead rhino, shot dead by poachers although they never managed to get her magnificent horn, so it proved a waste of life by everybody’s standards. She was killed by a single shot, clearly by an experienced professional, ‘a person who knows exactly what they’re doing, equivalent to Navy Seals and SAS operatives’, according to Miles. “They’re not poachers, they’re rhino assassins,” he says.
Tom visits the Kruger Park, where most of South Africa’s rhino are found and where the highest kill rate occurs. He meets Vincent Barkas who runs an anti-poaching unit of 300 men that provides protection for animals in private game reserves. Vincent says, “When the poacher comes in, you’ll have one guy who does the shooting that’s got the hunting rifle. You might have another chap there to cut and carry the horns. And your third and fourth persons might be in possession of a military assault rifle, which they will use to confront the guards.”
Vincent’s team are trained to use military assault rifles and he admits that as a private company, being responsible for 33 military weapons sends a shiver up his spine. “The guys make a huge sacrifice. They’ve got no social life. They don’t earn a lot of money. They’re putting their lives on the line… these guys are being trained to be killers. In a democratic country like South Africa, we’re taking 19, 20-year-old kids and teaching them to use semi-automatic rifles, and I’m a private individual. I don’t represent the government. That tells me something’s out of control.”
Tom joins Vincent and his men deep in the bush for an anti-poaching training session, attempting to find three men in the middle of 900 hectares of veld. He also spends time with Tumi, one of Vincent’s most trusted men, who introduces Tom to his family and admits in some communities the poachers are considered heroes.
Tumi explains that he is under pressure to join the poachers, even by a government official. “He told me, I want a rhino horn, and if I can get it for him, he was gonna give me 500,000. I was tempted, but I started trying to show him my negatives, telling him, ‘Hey, I’m scared.’ But I can’t do it because they gonna catch me. They will know it’s me. Where will I put that money? I can’t take it to the bank. He says, ‘No, don’t worry. I’ll make you a contract. Prove it. You sign it. I get the money in your account. I’ll do that, easy. One time. Chop, chop.’”
When Tumi refused, the man threatened to kill everyone in his street, including his family, if he told anyone. As the father of a 14-month old girl, Tumi doesn’t want to get involved.
Next, Tom’s trek takes him to Johannesburg to see some alarming evidence of the international criminal gangs involved in poaching. The city is the major conduit for smuggled rhino horn on its way to South East Asia and Tom meets Julian Rademeyer, an award-winning journalist who has spent three years immersed in the world of the ivory trade. Tom learns about the horns being sold illegally on the black market in incredibly sophisticated, well-run operations, often believed to fund larger scale activity.
Julian explains, “If you look at the example of Somalia, you’ve seen al-Shabab using ivory to fund their operations. We’ve seen instances in Chad, for example, where armed militia men mow down elephants. The wildlife trade is an incredibly lucrative business, and it’s a great way to fund all of those activities… These are incredibly sophisticated, well run operations. You have untouchable kingpins in places like Vietnam and Laos. You’re talking about incredibly dangerous people who are prepared to kill and die for this prize.”
Tom also meets John Hume who has a radical solution to the poaching crisis and believes that dehorning a rhino is the only way to save it from poachers. John is the largest rhino owner in the world and claims he is driven to repopulate the species. All 850 of his rhino have been dehorned.
Another man fighting back is Sean Hensman, who is training elephants to track poachers, so that the hunted become the hunter. Sean’s elephants patrol his land using their phenomenal sense of smell to find poachers over huge spaces. The pads on their feet are so soft it makes them very difficult to be heard. Tom is keen to find out more but before agreeing to hide in the bush to put the elephant’s searching skills to the test, where he meets an elephant called Toshura up close and is completely overwhelmed by the experience, having never been that close to an elephant before.
Poaching Wars airs on ITV on Thursday 22 August from 9pm – 10pm.
Labels: GAME PARKS, POACHING, WILDLIFE
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Bill Gates on Zimbabwe safari
16/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
The Microsoft boss, the world's richest man from 1995 to 2009, arrived in the country last Tuesday on a six-day visit, according to the Sunday Mail.
The newspaper said Gates, his wife Melinda and their two children touched down at the Buffalo Range Airport in Chiredzi on a small private jet and checked into the exclusive Malilangwe Game Reserve.
The Mail said Gates – the world’s second richest man – was staying at the first-class Singita Pamushana Lodge where a five-bedroom luxury private boarding costs US$5,785 per night
The Gates family has interests in Zimbabwe. Last year, Melinda – a world-famous philanthropist – availed a US$5 million fund through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for developmental projects in Harare.
The fund is expected to see the construction of houses for low-income earners and less-privileged members of society in Dzivaresekwa township.
Part of the funds will be used to improve waste management in the capital.
Bill Gates' visit is a boon for the country's tourism industry which has been on a recovery path since 2009 when a coalition government eased political tensions in the country.
"'If Gates can holiday in Zimbabwe, then anyone can' is the message that Zimbabwe will hope to send to the world," said a tourism expert.
Early this year, Donald Jnr and Eric Trump – the sons of American billionaire property tycoon Donald Trump – were photographed on a big game hunt in Zimbabwe during which they killed an elephant, a leopard and a buffalo. The grissly pictures attracted condemnation from animal rights groups.
Labels: BILL GATES, WILDLIFE, ZIMBABWE
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Neighbour from hell
Sunday, 21 October 2012 00:19
Emilia Zindi recently in Mola, Siyakobvu
Villagers of Siyakobvu in Mashonaland West are living in fear of a safari operator who allegedly instructs his workers to assault anyone they see near his premises.
In what appears to be a growing trend of safari operators refusing to accept the Government’s indigenisation programme, a Mr Steve Edwards, who runs Musango Safari Camp, has vowed to raze his lodges if forced to get into partnerships with locals. He is also accused of encroaching onto the territories of local chiefs.
One of the local leaders, Chief Mola, spoke of how the people in his area are living in fear of Mr Edwards and his workers.
He alleged that several people, accused of illegally fishing in what Mr Edwards calls his territory along the Zambezi River, have had their equipment that include fishing rods, axes, or hoes confiscated by Mr Edwards’ workers.
“We are living in fear of this Edwards who has continued to attack my people and yet he is the one encroaching onto my area,” said Chief Mola.
He added that efforts to have the dispute resolved through the local authority, Nyami Nyami Rural District Council, have not yielded results. The council’s chief executive officer, Mr Daniel McKenzie, disclosed that a meeting meant to resolve the dispute with Mr Edwards ended acrimoniously.
“He threatened to burn down the chalets on the island where he runs lodges if anyone tried to force him to partner with locals under the indigenisation and empowerment programme,” said Mr McKenzie.
A visit to the lodges situated on an island revealed a heaven-on-earth set-up, with chalets neatly tucked in the bushes. Visitors to that island are ferried by speed boats, in sharp contrast to Mr Edwards’ workers who have to use home-made canoes. Although Mr Edwards was not present, one of his tour guides who preferred to be called Mr Adams disclosed that the safari had lots of wildlife and attracts visitors from Europe and the United States of America.
“They book from their respective countries and do the payments there before coming to Zimbabwe. They also inform us of the means of transport they will be using to this island so that we ferry them to the island, which is only accessed by means of our speed boat,’’ said Mr Adams.
Efforts to get a comment from Mr Edwards were fruitless as he was unreachable on mobile phone.
Mr Adams refused to comment on the disputes with chiefs, saying it was only Mr Edwards who could do so. Some workers spoken to said they were also being unfairly treated by their employer who has refused to make them permanent workers despite having worked for him for more than 10 years.
“All he does is to make us renew our one-year contracts. The contract forms he makes us sign are different from those of the rest of the industry as he produces his own. He knows we cannot report anywhere as we live on an island where visitors only come on appointment as they have to be fetched by his speed boats,’’ said one of the workers who refused to be named for fear of victimisation.
Mr Adams, however, denied this news crew access to the workers’ compound where a health hazard is reportedly looming as the employees live in deplorable conditions. The workers alleged that the refusal was a ploy to hide the squalid conditions they live under.
Labels: INDIGENIZATION AND EMPOWERMENT ACT (ZIMBABWE), RHODESIANS, TOURISM, WILDLIFE
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COMMENT - He's lying. First, a similar property advertised on Wildnet in the 1990s was offered for $23,- per hectare, not $100,-. Secondly, at $100 for 24,000 hectares, that's $2.4 million. How did he get that much money to spend on a wildlife reserve? Now he says he bought 24,000 hectares at $100/hectare ($2.4 million) from a $1 million loan from the World Bank? By the way, ordinary Zimbabweans should be so lucky to get a 10 year business loan at 2.5% interest.
Inside Save Conservancy
Saturday, 22 September 2012 20:21
Emilia Zindi
Mr Clive Stockhill expresses displeasure at sharing his 24 000 hectares of land with indigenous people as he feels his wildlife will be under threat.
Driving into the now controvertial Save Valley Conservancy one quickly gets to understand the emotions and defiant attitude that have surrounded its indiginisation to accommodate black players.
This “paradise on earth’’ is situated in the South Eastern Lowveld and covers approximately 845 044 acres (342 123 square kilometres) shared by a group of 16 white former cattle ranchers.
It is bigger than Belgium which is only 30 530 square kilometres but is shared by 11 million people.
And Save is indeed a rich man’s retreat. Driving through the area one gets occasional appearances of the enormous jungle leaders among them kudu, giraffe, rhino, elephant, impala, lion, warthog and wildebeest.
You hardly travel a kilometre without seeing these beasts, making the conservancy one of the best tourist centres in the country.
Nearly every ranch has one or two upmarket lodges, some of which have airstrips, which are currently in use, allowing the various visitors from all over the world to come into the country hassle-free and privately.
Workers at Senuko Ranch, which has one of the airstrips, told The Sunday Mail last week that small planes came in and left quite often.
“In fact, there was one this morning. Most guests here come in private planes for hunting,’’ remarked one of the workers.
Senuko is owned by Mr Clive Stockhill and measures 24 000 hectares.
Other properties belonging to his business associates measure between 24 000 and 35 000 hectares each.
The impression you get as you drive through the conservancy is that no human inhabitants would be found there because of the free movement of different wildlife along the main dusty road that stretches across the conservancy.
The workers claim the animals are shot as and when the owners decide, at times just for making biltong.
The plush homes of the conservancy owners and their families are tucked inside thick bushes and can hardly be located except for those who know the area well.
Entrance into the conservancy is strictly monitored and only those cleared by the “bosses’’ are allowed in.
This is the sweet cake that some black empowerment groups now want a piece of.
But Mr Stockhill, the former chairman of the conservancy, is adamant that the parcelling out of this land will never happen.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail at his residence, located on top of a hill in the middle of a forest, Mr Stockhill had no kind words for those eying his lucrative venture.
“First I must say if people think this is an area where they can make quick money, they are joking. It is not easy. We had to forego a lot of things as cattle ranchers to come up with this conservancy.
“So, it was created as a business venture where we invited an independent consultant to carry out a survey as to how we should go about it,’’ he said.
He said there would be no indigenising of the conservancies and the owners did not even understand the scope of that whole programme.
“We are still trying to understand what this is all about. All what I need is for you to understand how the Save Conservancy came to be what it is today.
“I am a Zimbabwean and I will die here. I do not see myself leaving this place because I have seen two land reforms under different governments, first from the Rhodesian government and then the black government and now you want me to witness yet another reform, what for?’’ he said.
He narrated that he was born 40 kilometres from Mkwasine Estate in the Lowveld where his parents owned Essaby Ranch. They moved there way back in 1940.
He grew up on the ranch until he bought his property measuring 24 000 hectares which is now part of the Save Conservancy.
“I bought this from a deceased’s estate at US$100 per hectare. I am a third-generation Zimbabwean and I remain committed to finding solutions to the problems that exist here,” he said.
Mr Stockhill therefore warned those trying to parcel out the conservancy to first understand how it was formed.
The area, he said, was initially for cattle ranchers in the 1920s after which the ranchers released their cattle because they were not able to sustain the ranching programme.
In 1992, drought saw hundreds of their cattle dying, prompting them to think of new means of survival.
“We looked at what to do. This was a hardcore business and instead of us doing it ourselves, we invited an independent consultant who carried out a survey looking at options.’’
He said finally the ranchers chose wildlife as their next venture. They then came together and formed the Save Valley Conservancy.
To get the business off the ground, they borrowed money from the International Finance Corporation which is a branch of the World Bank.
“We borrowed US$1 million through the World Bank’s office in Canada and the loan was payable over 10 years at two-and-a-half percent per annum with an endorsement from the Government of Zimbabwe through Cde Simon Khaya Moyo who was then the Minister of Tourism,’’ he said.
“We started with zero quotas until we finished paying back the loan in 2007 with hunting revenue still not enough to cover costs of wildlife. There is a perception that there is money in this business, which is wrong. We need independent auditors to give the correct picture,’’ he said.
He said major costs included wages as well as electricity bills.
Mr Stockhill said his property alone was not big enough to be shared with anyone.
“The smaller the unit, the less ecologically viable it becomes. The question that still haunts us is how we share benefits.
“The best way to do so is we would like to understand more of the community trusts that are being set up. We are keen to understand some of these structures,’’ he said.
He said there had not been much activity on the conservancy following the recent suspension of the hunting quotas by Government.
Prior to the suspension, hunters would come from as far as the United States, Canada and Europe.
However, some indigenous Zimbabweans believe that Mr Stockhill and his associates are holding on to resources that in all fairness cannot belong to them alone.
“How can a group of people claim ownership of such vast amounts of land and wildlife in a country with so many indiginous people?’’ remarked one of businesspeople in the area.
But some in Government have sided with the conservancy owners claiming that indiginising the area would impact badly on the country’s tourism, mostly the co-hosting of the 2013 UN World Tourism Organisation General Assembly to be jointly hosted with Zambia.
These sentiments saw the Zanu-PF Politburo recently set up a technical committee to investigate the matter and make recommendations.
Controversy surrounding the conservancy emerged after the black beneficiaries of the lucrative business who were issued with 25-year leases included senior Zanu-PF officials.
This raised questions as to whether the process was indeed in line with Government’s policy on indigenisation.
Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said in an interview last week that the Politburo would want the conservancy turned into a national park.
“The Politburo resolved that the technical committee will meet soon to discuss issues around Save Conservancy. It will provide us with the way forward, but the thinking is to convert the conservancy into a national park.
“If that succeeds, then it means those leases issued recently would fall away,’’ Cde Gumbo was quoted as saying.
However, most people in the area believe black players should benefit from wildlife in the area.
“While we agree that the issuance of the 25-year leases could have been done in a wrong manner, the concept is good.
“What is needed is to do the right thing in redistributing this sector just as was the case under the land reform programme. No sector is sacred in the name of protecting tourism or threatening the hosting of the WTO General Assembly,’’ said war veteran Cde Robert Majiga.
" He grew up on the ranch until he bought his property measuring 24 000 hectares which is now part of the Save Conservancy. “I bought this from a deceased’s estate at US$100 per hectare. "
Labels: LAND REFORM, RHODESIANS, WILDLIFE
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AfDB urges ZAWA to open up game ranching
September 24, 2012
FRED KWESIGA
By CAROLINE KALOMBE
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) has urged the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to revise its policy on game ranching to allow citizens to set up game ranches in a bid to create employment.
AfDB Zambia country representative Freddie Kwesiga says ZAWA needs to revise its policy of 2007, to allow communities to own game ranches.
Dr Kwesiga said in an interview in Lusaka on Thursday that game ranching will allow for breeding and restocking of animals, to increase animal population in game management areas.
“ZAWA is in the process of revising its policy of 2007 to allow for game ranching, which will ensure ownership by the communities,” Dr Kwesiga said.
He said genuine empowerment of the people will only take place when communities are allowed to own ranches.
Dr Kwesiga said this can be done by allowing chiefs, who are the custodians of land surrounding game management areas, to own 50 per cent of the business and employ local people.
“How can you reduce poverty and empower the people if you do not allow them to own the land?” he asked.
He said game ranching is not a very difficult undertaking because wild animals do not need veterinary care.
Dr Kwesiga said all the animals need is an area where there is adequate pasture and water, which is not a problem in most parts of the country.
He said the animal population has been on the decrease and restocking will increase their numbers and open up the country to tourism.
Recently, Minister of Tourism and Arts Sylvia Masebo urged Zambians to take advantage of business opportunities being offered in the game ranching sector which has remained untapped for many years.
Ms Masebo said game ranching and the tourism sector in general have great economic potential and urged the private sector to take up the challenge and open up new facilities.
Labels: AfDB, WILDLIFE, ZAWA
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Govt declaring war against poachers, says Masebo
By Henry Sinyangwe and Kombe Chimpinde
Tue 04 Sep. 2012, 19:16 CAT
GOVERNMENT is declaring war against poachers, says tourism minister Sylvia Masebo. Speaking on arrival at City Airport on Sunday from Kafue National Park where she had gone to launch the new uniforms for ZAWA officers, Masebo said the Zambia Wildlife Authority officers would work with defence wings to curb poaching.
She said the government attached great importance to wildlife and would ensure that poaching was curbed to enable the country earn more resources from the endorsement.
"Government attaches great importance to the natural resources, in particular the wildlife. Government through ZAWA is declaring war against the poachers. And we are happy that the defence forces are coming on board to support us as has been demonstrated by the presence of commanders during our meeting... We need to look after the wildlife to ensure that we solve the problem of the much talked about unemployment and earn the country forex," Masebo said.
She said the village scouts and ZAWA police would be trained by the defence wings to enable effectiveness and efficiency in curbing poaching.
Masebo said the officers would also receive new and correct weapons to fight the poachers.
"We don't have planes so they (defence wings) can also help us in that area through joint operations in terms of monitoring wildlife. The government has released K15 billion which was budgeted for in this year's budget and all that is meant to help in the conservation and management of wildlife. We have bought uniforms now everybody has," Masebo said. "We also want to equip them with the correct weapons to fight the poachers. We hope that before the end of this year we should be able to buy some guns and more transport for the purposes of enhancing their operations".
She said ZAWA officers used the guns confiscated from the poachers because there had not been much funding to the institution.
And speaking when she launched the uniform, Masebo disclosed that the population of well sough-after animals like elephants had plummeted due to poaching scourge.
"The elephant population plummeted from over 250,000 animals that used to roam on the Zambian soil in the 70s was severely
reduced to 17,000 in 1989, due to severe poaching that was experienced in the 80s.This unfortunately, led to the extinction of black rhino during the same period," she said
She said that over the years, trends in population of some species had continued to show gradual decline largely attributed to poaching occurring at both subsistence and commercial levels.
"This time, poachers have become sophisticated criminals, some of which are either retired or serving service men, and are equipped with sophisticated weapons, which include automatic rifles," Masebo said.
"Unfortunately, even the traditional hunter who once used to hunt only for the pot has also turned commercial and has become a threat to wildlife and officers as he has equally become armed and defensive."
And ZAWA director general Edwin Matokwani said the
statutory instrument that had provided for the introduction of a new uniform that will be warn interchangeably with the old had for the first time also provided for rank insignia for the officers.
"This development certainly raises ZAWA's profile to its rightful position as a paramilitary organisation as recognised in the policy for wildlife and national parks in Zambia," he said"
ZAWA has always used the jungle green uniform.
Labels: SYLVIA MASEBO, WILDLIFE, ZAWA
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COMMENT - Because of the 'inclusive government', pro-MDC articles have appeared in The Herald, and
not to it's benefit.
EU aid cut threat over Save take-over
28/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
ZANU PF on Monday moved to rein-in 25 of its members who planned to parcel out the 3,400 square-kilometer Save Conservancy among themselves, amid threats of aid withdrawal by the European Union. The planned seizure of the massive, prized wildlife reserve in the south-east Lowveld of Zimbabwe could spark a targeted withdrawal of Western aid, diplomats warned.
On Monday, Zanu PF national chairman Simon Khaya Moyo met Environment Minister Francis Nhema and Save Valley Conservancy chairman Basil Nyabadza in a bid to defuse growing tensions.
The Zanu PF-leaning state-run Herald newspaper signaled that there was no appetite among senior figures in the party for the implementation of the “wildlife-based land reform policy”.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed senior government official saying the “indigenisation” of nature reserves was “not government policy” – a rebuke to the 25 senior Zanu PF figures including Higher Education Minister Stan Mudenge, Masvingo governor Titus Maluleke and former lawmaker, Shuvai Mahofa.
The official told the Herald: “You cannot take individuals and argue that this is empowerment.”
Khaya Moyo said he had made a “lot of progress” in his meeting with Nyabadza and Nhema, who has crossed swords with his Tourism counterpart, Walter Mzembi, over his advocacy for the enforcement of equity laws even in wildlife sanctuaries.
The Zanu PF chairman is expected to make recommendations to the party’s politburo which meets on Wednesday. He is expected to warn that a take-over of the Save Conservancy could threaten Zimbabwe’s hosting of the United Nations' World Tourism Organisation congress next year and undermine the tourism sector.
Germany’s Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency quoted a European Union diplomat saying there was serious concern over the threatened take-over of the Save Conservancy.
"We are considering appropriate reactions. It's a very serious situation,” the diplomat said.
One measure could be the withdrawal of support for a world tourism congress next year, being hosted jointly by Zimbabwe and Zambia at Victoria Falls.
"Zimbabwe depends entirely on international support for the congress," the diplomat added. "It cannot go ahead without us."
The idea will be discussed in Berlin this week, during a meeting of German officials, the diplomats said.
Running along the banks of the Save River, the conservancy – respected as a leader in wildlife management and research – is collectively controlled by international investors, white ranchers who formerly ran cattle on the land, local black businessmen and hundreds of rural farmers.
"It is a working example of how something really special can be a success, by including all sectors of the community, especially the rural poor who have previously got nothing out of wildlife," said Wilfried Pabst, a German businessman who is vice-chair of the conservancy.
Pabst rejected accusations by the government that the reserve is opposed to ensuring a fair deal for blacks.
"Two-thirds of stakeholders of the conservancy are black. It is now being threatened by a collection of greedy individuals who are bringing nothing into the conservancy and will destroy it," Pabst said.
The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, under Nhema’s ministry, announced August 9 it was granting 25 top officials from Zanu PF control over most of the Save (pronounced Sa-Veh) reserve, which covers 3,400 square kilometres in the country's arid south-east – 150km south of Mutare.
But the Save Valley Conservancy took out newspaper adverts on Sunday with a strongly-worded statement claiming thousands of people's livelihoods are threatened by the issuance of hunting permits and land leases to members of President Robert Mugabe’s party.
"When humans behave like animals, we destroy not only each other but generations to come," the group said.
The advertisements said politicians "want to destroy agreements and policies that have made Save the world leader in conservation management".
Save is a habitat for elephant, zebra, giraffe, as well as the nation's second largest surviving population of endangered black rhinoceros. The area also supports an array of African antelope and most species of birds and small animals.
"We as humans can help stop using colour as a racial tool to destroy the very people who are working for our common good," said the advertisements, under the heading: ‘Animals don't see in colour’.
The land reform programme championed by Mugabe was meant to rectify colonial-era imbalances which heavily favoured the white minority. However, critics say prime land has been seized by the politically-connected elites from Zanu PF.
Labels: EU, SANCTIONS, SIMON KHAYA MOYO, WILDLIFE
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Indigenisation of conservancies starts
Friday, 10 August 2012 00:00
Herald Reporters
Government yesterday started indigenising conservancies by issuing hunting permits to 25 black farmers allocated lots at the wildlife-rich Save Valley Conservancy in the Lowveld. The issuing of the hunting permits to black farmers follows an almost eight-year stalemate between Government and white conservancy operators.
The operators were refusing to co-exist with the new farmers under the Government’s wildlife-based land reform policy. Government in 2004 issued 25-year leases to black farmers to actively participate in the lucrative wildlife sector.
National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority director general Mr Vitalis Chadenga issued the hunting permits to the black farmers at Benjamin Burombo Government Complex in Masvingo and said more permits would be issued next week.
Mr Chadenga said the black farmers who were issued with hunting permits were allocated 25-year land leases in conservancies throughout Masvingo province.
“When the land reform programme started, the Government did not focus much on the wildlife sector because it is not only sensitive, but also requires orderly transfer,” he said.
“But the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, with the concurrence of Environment and Natural Resources Management Minister Francis Nhema has, after due consideration of all representations made to it by all stakeholders in the Wild Life-Based Land Reform exercise made the decision to grant with immediate effect annual hunting permits and quotas to beneficiaries who are in possession of 25 year leases.”
Mr Chadenga told the new black farmers that his organisation expected orderly hunting to take place in the conservancies.
“The authority (National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority) is convinced that orderly hunting will ensue henceforth,” he said.
“And that the right holders will assist the authority with accountability so as to ensure sustainable hunting, security to tourists and to complement the authority’s robust conservation efforts.”
Mr Chadenga said measures were underway to bring to book those in the wildlife sector hunting without permits.
He expressed concern over an upsurge in poaching activities, especially the black rhino in areas where old and new stakeholders were in conflict over hunting rights.
Mr Chadenga said the granting of hunting permits to black farmers was expected to engender orderliness in the wildlife hunting sector.
Speaking at the same function, Masvingo governor and resident minister Titus Maluleke said the province had waited for too long for black farmers to get hunting permits.
He said the development was a landmark and would further consolidate the land reform and indigenisation programme.
Among the black farmers who received hunting permits in an area straddling nearly 200 000 hectares at Save Valley Conservancy was Governor Maluleke, former Gutu South legislator Cde Shuvai Mahofa, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister and Masvingo North legislator Dr Stan Mudenge.
Labels: INDIGENIZATION AND EMPOWERMENT ACT (ZIMBABWE), WILDLIFE
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Police investigate water poisoning
Wednesday, 01 August 2012 00:00
Michael Chideme and Daniel Nemukuyu
Police have opened investigations into last week’s delivery of a poisonous chemical to Harare’s main waterworks. The law enforcement agents sent a docket to the Attorney General’s Office for advice on how best to proceed with the matter. The AG’s Office will determine the appropriate charges that those responsible for the boob would face.
A senior officer from the AG’s Office, Mr Morgan Dube, yesterday confirmed receiving the docket. He said there was a chain of people linked to the case and that the office required time to study the papers before deciding its next move.
“Yes, I confirm that the docket has reached our office and we are still going through it,” said Mr Dube.
“We would want to find out who among the many names implicated is culpable and determine the appropriate charge in the circumstances.”
At least 19 tonnes of the deadly sodium cyanide were delivered to Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant on Wednesday last week. But the driver of the truck carrying the deadly chemical raised alarm before workers could off load it into drums in preparation for “treating” water.
The workers were expecting to receive liquid aluminium sulphate water treatment chemical on the day.
The opening of the docket comes as more details emerge on the case.
The truck carrying the sodium cyanide was clearly marked “poisonous” which observers said was enough to raise attention before it reached Morton Jaffray.
Also see
* Poison delivered for water treatment
There are also counter-accusations between the clearing agent and the transporter.
Harare residents yesterday roundly condemned the delivery, while expressing fear of the disaster that could have ensued if the chemical was used.
Freight World cleared the sodium cyanide at Forbes Border Post, with LA Cargo eventually being tasked with transporting it to Morton Jaffray. Freight World managing director, Mr Felix Nyaruwanga yesterday blamed the mix-up on LA Cargo.
He said the company’s transport manager and the driver were to blame for delivering a wrong chemical to the city.
Mr Nyaruwanga labelled the driver “stupid” for having driven a truck that was clearly marked “poisonous” to Morton Jaffray.
“The transporter mixed the paperwork. He put the proof of delivery indicating aluminum sulphate on top of the manifest written sodium cyanide,” he said.
“The transport manager did not practise due care.
“He did not check the proof of delivery which read aluminum sulphate, while the transport manifest read sodium cyanide.”
Asked how the chemical found its way to Morton Jaffray, Mr Nyaruwanga said as clearing agents they process everything electronically and never see the product.
“We only deal with documents,” he said.
“None of us see the product before it reaches the City of Harare.”
Mr Nyaruwanga said they had shown the police how the documents were swapped.
But LA Cargo official Mr Apronis Mupakaviri said the blame should be on Freight World who issued wrong delivery instructions to the driver.
“We sub-contracted the delivery to Astra and the driver was given delivery instructions from Freight World,” he said.
Mr Mupakaviri refused to entertain any further questions. Harare residents called for a thorough investigation into the matter.
Mr Callistas Dzamara said: “It was going to be a disaster for Harare that would have affected the majority.”
Another resident Kelvin Kajao said the companies responsible should be investigated.
“They should be serious with their jobs because thousands of lives could have been lost,” he said.
Some of the residents expressed concern that the whole debacle could have been planned.
“From what the driver is saying, it shows that he actually knew that he was carrying a dangerous chemical,” Ms Sarah Mazi said.
If sodium cyanide was used, millions of Harare residents could have been put at danger.
Sodium cyanide is a deadly chemical that can exist in various forms, which can be a colourless gas, such as hydrogen cyanide (HCN) or cyanogen chloride (CNCl), or a crystal form such as sodium cyanide (NaCN) or potassium cyanide (KCN).
Hydrogen cyanide, under the name Zyklon B, was once used as a genocidal agent by the Germans during World War II.
Poachers use the chemical to lace water points to easily kill animals such as elephants and rhinoceros.
Labels: WATER, WILDLIFE
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Zambian held over 22 jumbo tusks
24/05/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
DETECTIVES investigating the recovery of 22 elephant tusks after a shoot-out with poachers along the Zambezi River are holding a man who was shot and wounded by game rangers. The man, a Zambian national, has been named as George Chingandu from Kazungula.
Matabeleland North police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Siphiwe Makonese said the man was arrested during a joint operation between the police and wildlife rangers in the Binga area near the Zambezi River. Two other suspected poachers managed to escape.
“We have arrested a suspected Zambian poacher who is under police guard at Mpilo Central Hospital. Investigations have revealed that he is part of the poachers who fled after being found in possession of 22 elephant tusks last Saturday,” Assistant Inspector Makonese said.
Police say Chingandu was one of five poachers arrested following a shoot-out with game rangers last Saturday. The gang was held at Robins Camp, a remote police station, but managed to escape overnight.
Police and wildlife rangers then intensified patrols along known exit routes used by Zambian poachers along the Zambezi River which borders the two countries.
Officers monitoring the Victoria Falls-Kazungula Road picked up the suspects’ tracks and enlisted the help of wildlife rangers at Siamongo base station.
“Together they saw three poachers near the Zambezi River and fired warning shots at them, but they took to their heels,” Makonese said.
“The police then fired again and this time, one of the poachers, George Chingandu was shot on the arm and left shoulder.”
Chingandu was taken to Victoria Falls Hospital and later transferred to Mpilo Central Hospital.
“He revealed during investigations that he was part of the five poachers who ran away from the police at Robins Camp leaving their loot at the scene and disclosed the names of his accomplices,” Makonese said.
“Investigations are under way and we are going to do joint investigations with the Zambian police.”
Elephant ivory is typically smuggled to Asia where it is carved into ornaments.
Labels: ELEPHANTS, WILDLIFE
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Trump sons' Zimbabwe hunt investigated
Trophy ... Donald Trump Jnr poses next to a buffalo he had just shot on Zimbabwe hunt
25/03/2012 00:00:00
by Reagan Mashavave I AFP
A CONSERVATION group on Friday said it was investigating whether a hunting trip to Zimbabwe by US property magnate Donald Trump's sons was legal, after photos of their trophies sparked outrage online.
Trump's sons Donald Junior and Eric made a hunting expedition in Zimbabwe in August 2010. Their pictures went viral on social media this month, showing them posing next to carcasses of a leopard, an elephant, a crocodile and an array of other animals.
The images drew condemnation on Facebook and Twitter, where their hunting trip was slammed as unethical. Donald Trump Jr has insisted on Twitter that he did nothing wrong.
Johnny Rodriguez, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told AFP that most professional hunt guides register with his organisation or with the government-run Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.
But he said his organisation does not have a record of the Trump brothers' hunting trip.
"We have people on the ground investigating. We want to find out if the hunting was ethical," he said.
"There is a lot of corruption and unethical conduct going on in the safaris. We want to find the truth and where the money generated from the hunting went to.
"We have been told that the Trump brothers were saying they gave game meat to locals who were starving, that's an insult to local people.
"These people are wealthy. If they wanted to help the people of Zimbabwe, why didn't they build schools or something like that, than to say that they gave meat to starving people. The area they are said to have hunted is Matetsi and there are no people who live there."
The trip was organised by Pretoria-based Hunting Legends International, which specialises in big game hunts for the wealthy.
The company has insisted that the hunt near the world-famous Victoria Falls was completely legal, and has kept pictures of the Trumps with their kills on its website.
"The entire hunt was done strictly according to the laws of the Department of Nature Conservation in Zimbabwe and, as is custom in these government-controlled areas, a staff member of the department escorted the hunt at all times," it said in a statement on its website.
"The hunt was entirely legal and ethically conducted as prescribed by the industry norms and regulations," it said. "None of the animals hunted were on the endangered species list and are plentiful in the area the hunt was conducted on."
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But the outrage over the hunting trip has already cost Donald Trump one advertiser from his US reality television show "The Apprentice", according to US media.
The pictures show Donald Junior holding a knife and a severed elephant tail, and sitting with a rifle next to a slain Cape buffalo. The brothers are also seen holding a leopard carcass, and standing next to a crocodile hanging from a tree.
"Donald Trump Jr. your're loser, ditto head. i'm a hunter. i hunt for meat, not horns. you can't eat horns," read one Twitter post.
"Men who hunt are not men," read another.
"Someone needs to stop these fools, maybe even hunt them," another said.
Donald Trump Jr has insisted the trip was legitimate.
"In the area I was in, the the wildlife board wanted to decrease the numbers for the benefit of the herd. Like liberal deer limits," he tweeted. "I am also not going to apologize because some eco nuts want me 2."
Labels: ENVIRONMENT, GAME PARKS, WILDLIFE
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Trump sons' grizzly Zimbabwe game hunt
Ear to ear ... Don Trump grins as he poses next to a dead buffalo shot on Zimbabwe hunt
13/03/2012 00:00:00
by Meghan Keneally I Daily Mail
GRIZZLY photos have surfaced of Donald Trump's millionaire sons smiling broadly next to the dead carcasses of wild animals that they shot while on a big game hunt in Zimbabwe.
Though the two Americans – Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump – deny any wrong-doing and proudly argue that they are hunters, many animal rights advocates are taking jabs at the pair.
In one of the photos, 34-year-old Don holds the sawed off tail of an elephant with his left hand while firmly gripping the knife that likely cut it with his right hand.
Another particularly jarring photo shows the brothers standing beside a 12'8" crocodile hanging from a noose off a tree.
The pictures were posted on the website for the company that ran the hunting trip to the Matetsi area near Victoria Falls.
Don denied that he leaked the photos over Twitter: “Not a PR move I didn't give the pics but I have no shame about them either. I HUNT & EAT game.”
“I AM A HUNTER I don't hide from that,” he said to another critic on Twitter.
The company, called Hunting Legends, detailed the brother's trip and said that it was not the first time that the Manhattan real estate moguls arranged a trip with them.
Though the pricing for the trip is not publicly available, it was certainly a costly endeavour.
The 2012 trophy fees for each of the animals they shot, and for the Kudu they paid at least $2,795.00 and another $1,997.00 for the Waterbuck they were pictured with.
“The Trumps soon showed their metal and it was evident from the word go that these two amazing young men are everything but the ‘city slickers’ you would expect!” the Hunting Legends site reads.
“They meant business from the outset of the hunt.”
The tour guide went on to say that they had “the precision of a true marksman”.
Don has been diligent about responding to angry comments on Twitter, and argued that their actions were justified because the meat was used to feed hungry villagers.
“I can assure you it was not wasteful the villagers were so happy for the meat which they don't often get to eat. Very grateful,” he responded to one Twitter user.
Their father does not share the views of his sons, and the elder Donald told the TMZ website: “My sons love hunting. They're hunters and they've become good at it. I am not a believer in hunting and I'm surprised they like it.
“I know that anything they did was 100% OK in terms of the hunting community.”
No regrets ... Eric and Don Trump with a lifeless leopard shot on Zimbabwe safari
Well suited ... Billionaire property tycoon Donald Trump (left) with children Eric, Ivanka and Don
Labels: GAME PARKS, WILDLIFE
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Kruger Park to meet union about strike, salaries
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Feb 25 2012 15:57
The Kruger National Park has said it would meet with union representatives in a bid to end the
nearly month-old strike by field rangers. Spokesperson Gabrielle Venter said a meeting would take place in the coming week.
"A joint task team meeting will take place on [February 29] in order to consider the extent of salary disparities, where identified, and recommend measures to be implemented to ensure salary parity," she said in a statement.
Workers have demanded equal salaries across the board. They believe employees in similar positions should earn equal salaries regardless of varying years of experience or training. The park has hired retired rangers and has been assisted by the South African Police Service and the SA National Defence Force during the strike.
A meeting was held on February 22 between South African National Parks (Sanparks) and the Health and Other Service Personnel Trade Union of South Africa (Hospersa), one of the main unions operating within Sanparks.
'Concerns being addressed'
Discussions centred around finding an amicable resolution to salary disparity concerns raised by a group of non-unionised employees, currently on strike.
The parties have also agreed to review the Subsistence and Travel Policy before April 1, to benchmark Sanparks' salaries against those of similar organisations.
Venter said discussions so far had given positive results and that salaries had been increased by 26% over the past two years and an average of 35% for employees in the Paterson A and B Bands respectively.
"The parties further resolved to call upon all striking employees to return to work as their concerns are being addressed," said Venter.
--Sapa
Labels: UNIONS, WILDLIFE
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Minister denies links to ranger's killers
12/01/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
DEPUTY Local Government Minister Sesel Zvidzai (MDC-T) has strenuously denied any links with three men arrested by police in Harare over the murder of a game ranger and rhinoceros poaching.
Detectives detained Zivanai Masvaire, 27, Charles Dowerowe, 37, and Shepherd Naite, 37, after they were intercepted before boarding a bus to South Africa with two rhino horns worth US$120,000.
When the trio appeared in court on Wednesday, it was revealed that an Isuzu KB300 truck they were travelling in was registered to Zvidzai.
But in a statement, Zvidzai said he was “surprised” that his name had been brought into the case.
He said: “The true facts of the matter are the car ceased to be mine on March 22, 2010, and the new owner is Rodgers Gaka of Harare who runs a car-rental company, Rodygar Tours and Car Hire.
"Since then, I have had nothing to do with the said vehicle and was surprised to see my name being linked to this vehicle probably because the change of ownership process is yet to be completed.”
The three men have been remanded in custody to January 23 for trial after being denied bail by a Harare magistrate.
Masvaire, Dowerowe, and Naite are charged alongside three other men who are on the run – soldier Naison Murindatsimba and brothers Ophel and Musiringo Makumburenga – with hatching a plan to kill and dehorn a rhino at Eldorado farm in Macheke on New Year’s Eve.
Masvaire, a game ranger at the farm, allegedly helped the other suspects breach security and kill the endangered animal.
Investigators say two cartridges recovered at the crime scene were fired from the same gun which killed a game ranger at the same farm last year.
Labels: MDC CORRUPTION, WILDLIFE
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COMMENT - Prince Bernhard zur Lippe-Biesterfeld was a member of the Reiter
SS and NSDAP (nazi party) and became a corporate spy for IG Farben, before he became the spouse of the Dutch Queen. He established the WWF in 1961. Here he is running a mercenary operation to fight poachers in Africa, for the WWF.
Pretoria inquiry confirms secret battle for the rhino
FOREIGN STAFF and AGENCIES
Thursday 18 January 1996
The World Wide Fund for Nature ran a covert operation in southern Africa aimed at stamping out illegal trade in rhino horn, a South African judicial commission reported yesterday. The report confirms an article which appeared in the Independent in January 1991.
The commission, headed by Judge Mark Kumleben, was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to investigate the smuggling of ivory and rhino horn from southern African countries through South Africa.
The report cited evidence that the operation - codenamed Project Lock - was the brainchild of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, first president of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) then known as the World Wildlife Fund.
John Hanks, WWF projects manager from 1985 to 1990, told the commission the unit was set up after he and Prince Bernhard made a field trip through Africa in 1987, the report said.
The prince asked whether Mr Hanks knew of an organisation willing and able to track down and expose the smugglers. KAS International, a private company formed by David Stirling, founder of the SAS, produced a feasibility study and was then appointed to undertake the task, the report said.
"The operation was aimed at all parts of southern and central Africa where the survival of rhino was threatened by poaching."
Rhino horn is in great demand in Asia for traditional medicines, especially for the treatment of fevers.
The report said that the anti-smuggling team, which began work in 1989, established safe houses in Pretoria and later in Johannesburg. A WWF document handed in to the commission indicated that the covert unit operated against smugglers in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and other southern African countries. South African police told the commission that the unit stopped its operations in mid-1990.
South Africa's army, according to the report, was involved in the large- scale destruction of wildlife, and smuggling, in Angola and Namibia for more than a decade. "During the period from mid-1978 to about 1986, the South African Defence Force (military intelligence division) officially, though covertly, participated in the illicit possession and transportation of ivory and rhino horn from Angola and Namibia to [South Africa]," the report said.
Labels: SOUTH AFRICA, WILDLIFE, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND
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Wildlife-based land reform way to go
Thursday, 11 August 2011 02:00
By Johnson Siamachira
IN some areas of Zimbabwe, the number of wild animals is growing, not as a consequence of conservation but of utilisation. Zimbabwe's game and nature reserves cover 13 percent of the country's total surface area. Wildlife is also extensively managed on twice as much land on private farms, cattle ranches and the traditional communal lands belonging to the indigenous people.
Underlying all this is a nature conservation policy, which can be called game or wildlife farming. The seeds for this were sown 37 years ago by an amendment to the wildlife legislation.
"Prior to this, wildlife belonged to the state and had no value for the landowner. Therefore, it was not looked after and a lot of wildlife was wiped out in favour of domestic stock. All this changed in 1975. The decision was one of the most important moves in southern Africa," says Charles Jonga, the director of the Community Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources. Once the people in the countryside started to benefit from the wild animals, they no longer saw them as a nuisance but as a source of livelihood, and so began to take care of them," says the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe.
Game farming has had a dramatic impact on the environment. The wild animals are returning to areas from which they were at one time expelled. Tough but easy to handle, farming wild animals is not a new idea. What is interesting is its scale.
One of the earliest to experiment in the country was Norman Travers, who owns the Imire Game Ranch near Harare. He brought a few animals to his farm in 1972 on an experimental basis and fenced off an area to see what would happen. That is how it all began. Now there are a thousands of animals on his farm.
In principle, keeping cattle, sheep or wild animals is all the same, but of course, you have to know how to handle them. Compared to cattle, wildlife has a lot of advantages, such as a built-in tolerance to drought, tsetse flies and ticks.
Game farms and ranches are also very important to the conservation of endangered animals.
"Cattle were brought to Africa from outside and wild animals were forced off farms because domestic animals were easily manageable. But now people have seen that wildlife can use the vegetation much better than the cattle. So why shouldn't we utilise our own wild animals?" said Jonga.
"The game farmer has a vertical acre instead of a horizontal one - a wide variety of animals from the giraffe eating leaves off the tops of trees to the warthog digging roots in the ground," he adds.
There are a number of game farms and ranches in Zimbabwe. They range in size from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of hectares.
Apart from farms and ranches, a large area is also taken up by communal lands belonging to the indigenous people. The nature-oriented use of such lands is extremely important from the conservation perspective.
The Campfire programme was launched on communal lands in 1989 which promotes the use of local natural resources, such as wild animals, as an economically sound and sustainable land use option. The villagers benefit from their conservation efforts either directly in the form of meat, or indirectly by eco-tourism incomes.
The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority defines annual game hunting quotas and the villages and districts themselves decide how to make use of these. The hunters also provide employment.
"One hunter may directly or indirectly provide work for 50 people: guides, trackers, camp builders, bearers and cooks," explains a consultant with a private constancy hunting firm.
The money gathered is often channelled into the construction of schools, hospitals and grinding mills. But, despite all this, the rural communities say they have not yet benefited from the wildlife-based land reform programme. Now, there are concerted efforts for the communities to push for an effective stake to benefit from the programme. However, this has been meeting stiff resistance from conservancy owners
A wildlife expert in Zimbabwe has said the government's push to implement the wildlife-based land reform will impact negatively on tourism.
John Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, says wildlife is the hallmark of tourism in Zimbabwe and the programme would disturb tourism through poaching of wildlife.
Parks and Wildlife Management Authority director-general Vitalis Chadenga maintains:
"Implementation of Wildlife-Based Land Reform remained one of the unfinished business of the country's land reform programme. The policy has been on our shelves for more than five years and for a variety of reasons, its implementation had remained elusive.
"Thirty-nine indigenous people have been allocated leases in Masvingo, 21 in the Midlands, and three in the Matabeleland region. The authority's role is confined to regulation and support for the private wildlife industry," he said.
He added: "Government remains committed to having wildlife managed by land-owners themselves to promote commercial production and services. However, there is also the expectation that other players must be allowed on board."
Save Valley Conservancy representative David Goosen welcomes this initiative.
"The Save Valley Conservancy is pleased to be part of the process of furthering the interests of conservation and finding a way forward for genuine indigenous investor participation in the wildlife industry. The Save Valley Conservancy has always been proactive in including its surrounding communities in the benefits of conservation, which will set new standards of confidence for all and safeguard the wildlife heritage of Zimbabwe for future generations," he said.
The wildlife-based land reform programme provides the following key linkages with the Campfire programme:
* Wildlife production will be maintained where it is the most appropriate land use option through transfer of leases or allocation of shares.
* Wildlife management responsibility and authority will be devolved at the most appropriate level.
* Recognition of the importance of authority, responsibility and incentives in fostering viable wildlife production systems.
In a recent presentation to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism on the Wildlife-Based land Reform Policy Jonga said: "The policy provides for partnerships between the public, private and community sectors. In the context of the wildlife industry, a partnership is a business activity undertaken between the owner of land or resource, and other business partners.
"Such partnerships are therefore not just a product of mutual agreement between two or more parties, but also an appropriate mechanism to facilitate the sharing of costs and benefits, sharing of risk, sharing of experience, and transfer of learning.''
He also said: "With appropriate support, conservancies, representing large and small operators, can offer viable options for partnerships and greater involvement of local people."
The local-authorities membership-based organisation, Campfire Association, in partnership with Bio-Hub Trust, a local consortium of environmental agencies, is currently rolling out a feasibility study on communal game ranching. The assumption is that the future of wildlife and wildlife based activities is tied up with greater involvement of local communities who share their space and life with this resource.
"Demonstrating the viability of alternative wildlife management systems becomes an urgent issue for rural development and wildlife conservation with spill-over effects to forests,'' says Jonga.
"But for the potential to be realised, there is a need to address the institutional framework through which new settlers do operate, and more importantly how they (the settlers) must adapt to wildlife compatible income generation as viable options.''
The study will also lead to the selection of pilot sites and communities to promote game ranching and any related wildlife enterprise.
However, there is an urgent need for a transparent understanding of the income chain in conservancies, and who benefits by how much. Without such transparency the new joint ventures may be one-sided, and there is also the possibility of ‘elite capture' and corruption among communities themselves.
* siamachiraj@yahoo.co.uk
Labels: GAME PARKS, LAND REFORM, WILDLIFE
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REVEALING DARK SECRETS. . .as game rangers use unorthodox means to protect rhinos
Saturday, 23 April 2011 22:25 Environment & Tourism
SOME wildlife conservancy security personnel in the Lowveld are said to be using unorthodox means to protect rhinos.
They allegedly lure and ambush “innocent” people, some of whom have been killed after being passed off as poachers. Some survivors of the alleged shady activities say the agents use the “kills” and arrests to claim funds from an international non-governmental organisation that fundraises for rhino conservation. The Sunday Mail tracked down a field intelligence officer at one of the Save conservancies and below is his account.
I am simply giving out accounts of some of the encounters I have had as a field intelligence officer.
An international non-governmental organisation provides funds to conservancies for rhino conservation activities.
The money is disbursed in proportion to the number of poachers arrested or killed.
Some of the funds are disbursed directly as an incentive to the security officers and it is this development that has led to several “innocent” people being lured and killed or arrested as poachers.
The more poachers you arrest or shoot dead, the more money you get from the organisation.
In April 2010, a plan was hatched by senior security personnel at our conservancy to lure Masvingo businessman Innocent Mudzviti with information that a game ranger had in his possession a rhino horn worth US$35 000.
Mudzviti teamed up with two soldiers from 4 Brigade in Masvingo, a junior officer from the Criminal Investigation Department and another Masvingo businessman named Nyoni.
The team of seven, who had US$35 000 cash on them, together with the security officer, drove an Isuzu KB to the conservancy where they were told they would meet the game ranger with the supposed rhino horn.
They parked their vehicle along the Chiredzi-Chisumbanje highway, about three kilometres from the main gate. Mudzviti, the two soldiers, and the security officer, who had lured them, entered the conservancy to negotiate with the said game warden to release the purported rhino horn while Nyoni, the CID officer and another man kept guard in the car.
Mudzviti and the soldiers were led into an ambush. The soldiers were shot and killed on the spot while Mudzviti escaped but was later captured.
Nyoni and the other people who were waiting with him in the car were immediately arrested.
It was later reported to the police that the soldiers were poachers who were shot during contact while Nyoni and others were reported to have been inside the conversancy when they were clearly outside.
It would have been far more convincing to have arrested Mudzviti and company in the act of poaching.
The question remains, what is poaching? Is being lured to a rhino horn regarded as poaching?
There are several other similar incidents.-The Sunday Mail
THE RESPONSE
Mr Mike Ball is the chief security officer of Malilangwe Conservancy Trust. The following is his response to some of the allegations raised by the field intelligence officer.
THE Save Conservancies have been hit by numerous rhino poaching syndicates and we have had to take stern measures in retaliation.
I know most conservancies face similar challenges with poachers as we do. For us at Malilangwe, we fight bruising battles with poachers and we are aware of the smear campaigns our detractors have embarked on.
We know that those whose poaching efforts we have thwarted are working 24 hours to try and discredit us.
We have busted several local and cross-border poaching syndicates and these have gone all out on a smear campaign. We work with the ZRP and we provide resources when they are needed as we try to protect rhinos from these daring poachers.
Some of our detractors have even alleged racism at Malilangwe, but we will not be distracted.
Surprising enough, despite these allegations of racism on Malilangwe’s part, everybody in this industry wants to work for Malilangwe where conditions of service are clearly better than anywhere else.
People who claim to have been lured were first class rhino poachers who would have been arrested and then try to defend themselves.-The Sunday Mail
Labels: GAME PARKS, MURDER, WILDLIFE, WORLD WILDLIFE FUND
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