The Sunday News
Sifelani Tsiko
African countries must institute coherent wildlife sector reforms that will ensure that they are better positioned to derive maximum benefits from the sustainable protection of their rich wildlife heritage which has come under increasing threat from poaching and trafficking, says a top African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) official. In a wide-ranging interview with Star FM, a top Zimbabwean radio, recently, AWF president, Kaddu Kiwe Sebunya says Africa needs to benefit substantially from its wildlife resources to create an incentive for its citizens to protect the continent’s rich wildlife heritage which it has successfully protected for ages.
“The only way to protect wildlife and wildlife places in Africa, is for Africans to benefit directly from the protection and conservation of their natural resources,” he says.
“We are very clear on that. The principle of this is very clear . . . unless Africans benefit from wildlife, we are not able to maintain the protection and conservation the wildlife.”
Sebunya who was in the country ahead of the 17th World Conference of Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (COP17 CITES) that will be held in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October 2016 this year, said Africa needs plug loopholes that continue to facilitate the bleeding of its wildlife resources through illicit trade in animal and animal products.
“Africans need to agree and dictate their vision for wildlife and wildlife conservation,” he says.
“Zimbabwe needs to decide on the plan for its wildlife and we will support them. Zimbabwe and other African countries need to figure out the role of the wildlife in their development, if they don’t other sides will and we are going to lose our wildlife.
“This is our heritage and we have to define our vision for wildlife and wildlife conservation.”
The continent, he says, needs to align all relevant local frameworks to the African wildlife vison that puts the needs and interest of its local communities at the centre of their natural resource management agenda,
Crucially, the AWF president says, Africa must unite in a broad and strong push for long overdue wildlife sector reforms that aim to strengthen its protection and conservation strategies while at the same time fashioning innovative ways for local communities to derive benefits and prosper from the sustainable use of its wildlife resources.
As African countries move towards the COP17 in South Africa, he says, it is critical that the continent’s wildlife and wild landscapes which contribute to Africa’s moral and financial bottom line, be a part of the “African voice” at the global gathering.
“Conservation is not an end to itself, conservation must be for the benefit of Africans. Those benefits must be explained to Africans. We are losing a lot of elephants because the benefits have not been explained to Africans,” Sebunya says.
“It must be Africans, to explain . . .We want to hear African voices . . . it can’t be Prince Charles, it must be Africans, you and me . . .”
The AWF president hailed Zimbabwe for managing to protect and conserve its wildlife despite numerous constraints the country faces.
“Zimbabwe is doing well and is the second largest holder of elephants on the continent and yet Africa is losing them 30 000 elephants annually,” he says.
“I am impressed by what Zimbabwe is doing. You gave Africa Campfire and I don’t know whether you appreciate it. It’s a Zimbabwean approach and you must be doing something right to hold such a large elephant population.”
In 2011, Zimbabwe had an elephant population estimated at 88 000 but however, it has declined to around 85 000 according to official figures.
Sebunya says his organisation will support whatever decision Zimbabwe made when it comes to its fight to sell its ivory and maintain sustainable trophy hunting activities that aim to support the protection and conservation of its wildlife heritage.
Zimbabwe and most other African countries have not benefited substantially from the wildlife resource sector due to poor management, legal and institutional weaknesses as well as other factors related to tourism marketing and distribution of wildlife products.
Its large multinationals and other wildlife poaching syndicates that continue to reap the huge benefits that come with wildlife resources. Africa loses 30 000 elephants a year excluding other wild animals.
In addition, Zimbabwe and a few other Sadc countries are sitting on tonnes of ivory which they cannot dispose owing to a Cites ban. Zimbabwe has 96 000 tonnes estimated to be worth close to US$100 million. The disappearance of the continent’s wildlife and wild habitats also threatens important sectors of the economy and handicaps any future development opportunities.
According to a 2014 brief prepared by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), tourism in Africa increased steadily between 2005 and 2013, with an average annual growth rate of about 6.1 percent.
While international arrivals numbered 35 million in 2005, in 2013 they grew to 56 million and, by 2030, arrivals are expected to number 134 million people. In 2013, international tourism in Africa was conservatively valued at $34,2 billion, according to the UNWTO. But little has trickled to local communities worsening the human — wildlife conflict. Zimbabwe and a few other Sadc countries will face an uphill battle to seek approval for the sale of their ivory stocks at the forthcoming international conference on trade in endangered species which will be held in South Africa later this year due to a poaching crisis facing the region.
Most southern African countries which include Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa have always supported the proposal to review the ban on trade in ivory. Sadc countries often stand nearly alone in opposing the destruction of illegal ivory stockpiles and a total ban on ivory trade among a slew of measures widely believed to combat poaching.
The countries will want to press for the continuation of the development of a decision-making process for the trade in ivory.
Pressure from western countries and others across the globe to totally ban trophy hunting and trade in ivory and ivory products has been roundly condemned by wildlife and environmental experts in Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia.
Africa is facing an unprecedented spike in poaching and illegal wildlife trade which is threatening to decimate the continent’s rich wildlife resource base.
Poaching is threatening the survival of elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, lions, hippos and a whole list of other animals still found on the continent. Wildlife crime is now prevalent across Africa with a complex web of highly dangerous international networks.
Wildlife and animal parts are being trafficked to various parts of the world.
The poaching of elephants for ivory and other wild animals for their skins and bones has taken on new and deadly dimensions, with poachers using chemicals such as cyanide to poison wildlife. Countless other species such as turtles, pangolins, snakes and other wild plants and animals are being caught or harvested from the wild and then sold to buyers who make food, ornamental plants, leather, tourist ornaments and medicine. AWF is involved in a number of programmes to stem illegal wildlife trade, poaching and unsustainable exploitation.
“We have been involved in awareness raising campaigns in China, Japan, Vietnam and other Asian countries to educate the public about the impact of buying illegal wildlife animal products to the survival of Africa’s wildlife,” Sebunya told the Southern Times earlier this year.
“It’s not only in China, we have also been involved in raising awareness in North America and Europe as well. It’s not peculiar to China alone, it’s a global problem and we have been working to address the demand-side problem.”
But despite all the woes facing Africa’s wildlife sector, Sebunya says the survival of the continent will depend on whether Africa and its local communities benefit from it or not.
“Africa needs to benefit first and foremost from the sustainable exploitation of its wildlife resources,” he says. “It is not about stopping the trafficking of wildlife products such as rhino but Africans need to figure out how to benefit from their wildlife . . . there must be a benefit from conserving rhinos and elephants, it must be explained . . .” — Zimpapers Syndication Services
