The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) anti-poaching activities have received a major boost after getting three patrol boats under the one million euro Covid-19 relief fund for the tourism sector.
The fund is granted to countries in the Kavango Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) by the German government.
KAZA TFCA is a transboundary development and conservation initiative by five partner States, the Republics of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, established through the signing of the Treaty on 18 August 2011 by the Heads of State in Luanda, Angola.
In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Barbara Rwodzi, the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu during the handover of the motorised boats at Tshabalala Game Sanctuary in Bulawayo last week said the boats will be deployed at Lake Kariba.
Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu
“I would like to thank the KAZA TFCA secretariat for continuing to steer the conservation ship forward and ensuring that the development targets set by partner states are met.
As Zimbabwe we are further indebted to the government of the Republic of Germany through KfW Bank for their continued support in protecting our natural resources and improving the livelihood of our communities living with wildlife.
As part of the national anti-poaching strategy, the boats will be deployed on Lake Kariba.”
Minister Ndlovu said the donation came at a time when continued efforts were being made to address the challenge of negative consequences of human and wildlife interaction, which was driving on a retaliatory path through poaching.
“To deal with these emerging challenges Zimbabwe through the ZimParks submitted a funding proposal to cater for law enforcement and community livelihoods for 400 000 euro and 600 000 euro respectively.
The Zimbabwe proposal was therefore accepted with the project tenure of the Covid-19 emergency grant stretching from April 2020 to April 2022.
Under the pillar of law enforcement, a lot of support was given such as procurement of fuel for operations, provision of camping equipment, securing personal protective equipment (PPEs), patrol rations and many other things including the procurement of three brand new motorised boats all for resource monitoring and protection which is the main reason for our gathering here today,” he said.
He challenged the recipients of the donation to put to good use the motorised boats in the protection of the shared natural resources and to make sure that all the necessary efforts are done to ensure their long-term usability through proper maintenance.
KAZA Secretariat programme manager Ms Netsai Bollmann
KAZA Secretariat programme manager Ms Netsai Bollmann said Zimbabwe was a valued partner in the KAZA initiative, contributing nearly 14 percent of the estimated 520 000 square km geographic scope.
She said notable results of the support from Germany to Zimbabwe were multiple.
“They include the renovation of park infrastructure which saw the renovation of the ZimParks office in Victoria Falls, fire management activities which resulted in the grading of roads and fire guards to reduce the extent of veldfire.
Activities were also implemented in the five districts of Binga, Bulilima, Hwange, Nyaminyami and Tsholotsho to strengthen community capacity to manage and conserve their natural resources and to ensure that the adverse impacts of Covid-19 on the livelihoods of communities and the country’s biological heritage were minimised,” said Ms Bollmann.
ZimParks director-general Mr Felton Mangwanya said as an authority they were fighting against complicated poaching groups and syndicates, a task that needs sophisticated equipment like cyber trackers, global positioning systems (GPS) gadgets, vehicles, drones and boats.
The TFCA has been operating through the support from governments, development partners, financiers and annual contributions by Partner States.
In 2019 KfW Bank of Germany made a call for proposals through the KAZA TFCA Secretariat which was titled the Covid-19 Emergency Grant and the Partner States were requested to submit their concept notes in response.
Each Partner state was entitled to one million Euro to support law enforcement and community livelihoods.
