John Makura
23 November 2003
CASES of poaching will continue unabated if the government does not urgently control the activities of the so-called new farmers and recruit more game guards, The Standard has learnt.
Presenting a paper on the impact of the land reform on wildlife at a conference of the Zimbabwe Indigenous Safari Operators Association (ZISOA), Vitalis Chadenga, a director with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, recently said during the fast track phase of the land reform programme, the emphasis was land first and all else later.
"Little or no attention was paid to the security of wildlife outside the (national) parks estate. This has the effect of foreclosing wildlife production as a legitimate land use option particularly for those settlers in areas where agricultural potential is limited by erratic rainfall and poor soils," said Chadenga.
"The problem of poaching was particularly acute during the first 18 months of the programme when even our flagship species like the rhino became incidental victims of bush meat snaring," added Chadenga, in a speech read on his behalf.
The one-day conference was also told that the department of national parks was severely understaffed with 635 game guards out of an approved establishment of 966.
Of the 635 guards, many were now too old to conduct patrols while several others are manning tourist offices and entrance gates into the parks.
A senior official in the department, L Mungwashu said anti-poaching efforts were being hampered by the limited distribution of parks' offices in the country and an ageing vehicle fleet.
He said in many cases, the department failed to respond in time to reports of poaching due to its ageing vehicles. He also pointed out that there was very little reward for whistle blowers hence people usually did not report poaching cases.
Poaching activities are on the rise since the government embarked on the resettlement of landless blacks on former white commercial properties, including game farms.
Chadenga, in his statement, said the settlement of people on game ranches had also resulted in the loss of the geographical range and natural habitats following indiscriminate burning and cutting down of trees.
"This has led to the erosion of confidence in the integrity of the country's wildlife management authority as well as undermining our drive to promote wildlife farming as a legitimate land use option," he said.
He said the first year of the controversial resettlement programme had witnessed about 90 percent decline in tourist arrivals at game ranches and the extensive poaching that followed had destroyed the resource base beyond redemption in some areas.
"The destruction of game proof veterinary fences, absence of rehabilitation of game and consequent increase in buffalo/cattle contact, created conditions conducive to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The subsequent outbreak of foot and mouth and the extent of its spread can be traced back to increased cattle/buffalo contact," he added.
Until 2000, wildlife farming was a major component of agriculture in Zimbabwe.
Many white farmers were exploiting the multiple uses of wildlife particularly hunting and eco-tourism.
Although protected areas hold more buffalo and elephant populations, commercial farms contributed significantly to the general wildlife estate in Zimbabwe, said the natural resources' experts.
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