Kategorie: Artenschutz

Tuesday, 07 December 2010 13:28

Poaching and destruction of the environment is endemic throughout Zimbabwe and can be directly linked to the political upheavals and dire poverty suffered by many communities. (PIctured: The Scouts collected 220 snares during their training period.)
The Wildlife and Environment Protection Unit, (WEPU) is an acronym that is fast gaining popularity over the more negative “Anti-Poaching Unit’. Anti-poaching has been an integral part of fauna conservation throughout Africa’s history, but more recently it has been expanded to encompasses the protection of flora as well.
The Vumba, together with Chimanimani and Nyanga, form the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe – a very beautiful mountainous area.  But this lush natural garden is seriously under threat.   Indigenous forests are burning and the wild animals that inhabit  them are being slaughtered.  We as a nation need to react to this destruction quickly and decisively, if we are to preserve the magical, mystical Eastern Highlands.
In response to this environmental crisis and after extensive local stakeholder consultation, Environment Africa and The Tikki Hywood Trust joined forces in a strategic partnership with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA). In late November the first Wildlife and Environment Protection Unit (WEPU) was launched in the Vumba.  This is the first project under the Vumba Green Fund, a Public, Private, Community Partnership, (PPCP), an innovative approach for the conservation and protection of our environment and wildlife and community upliftment.
This strategic partnership brings together  public institutions, the private sector and surrounding communities who, by working together, have pledged their support. Collectively, we are taking responsibility for protecting and conserving our environment, our heritage.
The first WEPU of eight scouts underwent an intensive training course conducted by Martin Steimer from Animal Lifeline together with Vumba National Parks.  During  training the scouts collected 220 snares, an 18 ton truck was impounded for illegal collection of wood and US$350 paid to National Parks Vumba from fines collected for illegal wood poaching.  
With initial successes like this, imagine the long term conservation benefit to the environment and community. The vision is to replicate this model throughout Zimbabwe.  The scouts are currently deployed under the direction of Vumba National Parks, but ultimately an Operational Manager will be employed to manage the day to day operations on the ground.  
It costs US$ 3000 per month to support an operational team of scouts, so private sector contribution and support is imperative.  Private sector support included Cape Union Mart, SA who discounted the teams camping equipment, a  private donation towards the cost of the equipment and British Airways, who waived all excess baggage fees for flying the equipment up to Zimbabwe.   
Poaching and destruction of our environment is endemic throughout Zimbabwe and can be directly linked to the political upheavals and dire poverty suffered by many communities.  Vumba is a prime example of this.  Through dialogue with the tourism sector as well as ZPWMA, we have found that there is a change in the cultural perceptions of the area with regard to the animals and plants of the region and their importance.  
For example, through traditional belief, local residents of the Vumba would not kill and eat  Samango Monkeys because they believed the result of this act would cause a drought in the region.  However, through the influx of migrants into the area, who do not subscribe to the same cultural beliefs, primates along with many other animals, have become a food source.
The fact that there is no facility in the area to cater for meat trade, ie abattoir or butchery compounds the problem.  Another resource that is being severely affected by the economic crisis is wood poaching, which is now rampant throughout the country due to the breakdown of electricity supply.  Wood is also being used for building traditional and temporary housing.
In the Vumba Botanical Gardens, the most inhibiting factor for effective protection of the area is lack of manpower on the ground. The National Parks staff members are too few in numbers to patrol the area thoroughly and still perform their regular duties. Furthermore, the Bunga Forest and the Botanical Gardens are not fenced, which adds to the difficulty of  protecting the area.  
The establishment of the WEPU will add tremendous value and much needed resource to work hand in hand with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authorities, private enterprise and the surrounding community.  By providing this protection, we now lay a pathway for community driven conservation activities, which benefit the people of the Vumba, as well as provide safe avenues for conservation research. The people of the Vumba may once again take pride in this unique area of Zimbabwe and be an inspirational example of collaborative conservation and community empowerment

Year of the Forest
2011 is the Year of the Forest and the Bunga Forest and it’s surrounds need to be protected.  According to National Parks, the Bunga Reserve was donated to the State by Mr Lionel Cripps, former speaker of the Southern Rhodesian Parliament, it was just less than 40 Ha.  The Bunga Forest Botanical Reserve was first made a National Monument in 1968, then a National Park in 1970 and a Botanical Reserve five years later.
In 1981, a year after Zimbabwe’s independence, the original gift of 40 Ha was extended to 1,558 Ha, with the incorporation of the neighbouring Castleburn and Ebbesborne estates. The Bunga reserve is constituted to preserve and protect rare and/or endangered indigenous plants which grow naturally in the wild so that they can be of benefit to the public, educationally and aesthetically. Chinhamapere Hill, on the Mozambique side of the mountains, has been a culturally-important site since the Iron Age, and has been proposed a World Heritage Site.
There are well-preserved hunter-gatherer rock art paintings (comprising several human figures, some holding bows and arrows and others in trance) thought to be of around 8000 years in age, as well as contemporary ritual sites, used for rainmaking, divining and healing. There are at least 86 Stone Age sites in the Zimbabwean portion of the mountains, some of which also continue to play roles of cultural significance.
Thanks to all the Vumba stakeholders for their support and we look forward to the Vumba Green Fund membership increasing.  If you are interested in supporting and or becoming a member of the Vumba Green Fund please do not hesitate to contact us.  info@environmentafrica.org

Source:www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36087:wildlife-and-environment-protection-unit-launched-in-vumba&catid=32&Itemid=34

Yaound̩, Cameroon РAn operation by special police forces earlier this week in Central African Republic (CAR) led to the arrest of an important wildlife smuggler and seizure of elephant tusks and cat skins.

This comes amidst a series of similar successful operations in Cameroon, Gabon and Republic of Congo. WWF applauds these efforts as they give a clear warning to wildlife traffickers in the region.

The RALF (French acronym for Strengthening of the Wildlife Law Enforcement) project aims to increase wildlife law enforcement activities and judiciary follow-up of wildlife crimes in the CAR, targeting mainly high-level wildlife traffickers. It works closely with the Ministry of Forests and Wildlife, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior.
“This shows how successful wildlife law enforcement activities can be when they are supported at the highest level,“ said Jean-Bernard Yarissem, WWF Country Director in CAR. “Collaboration between CAR’s authorities and WWF’s RALF project are paying off.“

Two elephant tusks, five panther and two lion skins were seized in the operation staged on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. They were hidden under a pile of cow skins in a truck.

The smuggler – a CAR citizen working within an international network – was en route to Nigeria when he was arrested at a checkpoint some 25 kilometers outside Bangui. He will be prosecuted soon. Judicial authorities in CAR’s capital provided full support to the operation.   
Last week, the Cameroonian Ministry of forestry and wildlife assisted by police and The Last Great Ape Organization (LAGA), which fights for wildlife law enforcement in Cameroon and the rest of Central Africa, arrested three traffickers with 17 turtle shells in two different operations. In Gabon, 16 ivory smugglers were caught with more than 100 kilos of ivory. All are in jail, awaiting trial.
Another dealer was arrested with 30 kilos of ivory in the Republic of Congo, and should be prosecuted.

“We are really moving a step forward as regional wildlife law enforcement is becoming a reality in Central Africa,“ said Alain Ononino, Head of Legal Department at the Last Grape Ape (LAGA).

Game rangers from Cameroon, Central African Republic and Republic of Congo on a joint patrol to track down poachers along the Sangha River.

Paris — Former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing has made an impassioned plea to authorities in Tanzania to uphold the country’s traditional commitment to the conservation of wildlife and show no mercy to poachers.

„Tanzania: Ex-French President Decries Poaching“ weiterlesen

According to court papers, the scheme was discovered in November 2006 when authorities found several African elephant tusks in a shipment labeled as toys. Federal agents tracked the shipment to Chau’s business, where dozens of ivory pieces were later found.

By Staff,  City News Service
Monday, November 29, 2010

The owner of a Claremont doughnut shop was put on probation today for two years and ordered to pay a $3,800 fine for his part in a scheme to buy, sell and smuggle ivory from endangered African elephants into the United States.

Moun Chau, 51, of Montclair, pleaded guilty in April to one federal count of conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to court papers, the scheme was discovered in November 2006 when authorities found several African elephant tusks in a shipment labeled as toys.

Federal agents tracked the shipment to Chau’s business, where dozens of ivory pieces were later found, prosecutors said.

With limited exceptions, the U.S. prohibits the importation of any amount of ivory.

In his guilty plea, Chau acknowledged buying ivory that was offered for sale on eBay from an accomplice who obtained the African elephant ivory in  Thailand and offered it for sale on eBay.

Some of the ivory came from African elephants, the largest mammal that lives on land, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

African elephants are endangered, partly due to loss of habitat and poaching of the animals, which are killed chiefly for their tusks.

Chau was charged last January with violating the Endangered Species Act and an international treaty called the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Both the U.S. and Thailand are signatories to the treaty, which prohibits the importation of any species threatened with extinction unless the U.S. has issued an importation permit and there is a foreign export permit from the country where the specimen originated.

Global wildlife smuggling generates at least $5 billion and may exceed $20 billion annually, according to a report prepared for Congress.

ALL 59 communal conservancies have been given N$60 000 each by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism as compensation for losses caused by wild animals.

The ministry channelled the funds, N$3,5 million in total, through its Game Product Trust Fund.

This was announced by Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah at the end of a two-day meeting of conservancy chairpersons and their managers last Friday.

There has been a number of complains from conservancies about wild animals such as lions and elephants killing livestock and people and destroying crops.

Nandi-Ndaitwah said the ministry had made N$1,9 million available to settle 2 295 claims for incidents that occurred outside conservancies.

"The implementation of the scheme should commence on December 1," she said.

Nandi-Ndaitwah reminded conservancies that the National Policy on Human Wildlife Conflict Management requires each conservancy to have a committee to recommend and approve compensation payments to their members.

These committees must be formed by representatives from the ministry, regional councils, NGOs, the conservancy committee and the local traditional authority.

Conservancies‘ financial records will be checked by the ministry on a quarterly basis. Should a conservancy misuse its allocated funds, no further allocation will be made until the case has been resolved to the satisfaction of the ministry.

The minister said there are a number of ways to address human-wildlife conflicts, such as building stone walls around water points and the use of ‚chilli pepper bombs‘ to deter elephants.

She said it was recently discovered that vuvuzelas can also be used for scaring away elephants.