Members of Parliament have bemoaned tendencies by international organisations to dictate how African countries should manage their natural resources without fully understanding the social dimensions and realities of local communities in those countries.
Lawmakers, belonging to the sub-committee of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Natural Resources, tasked to look into issues of tourism and conservation, shared these sentiments in the Zambezi region, where they are visiting conservancies.
The visit, part of the oversight function, is meant to gauge progress made since the inception of the Community Based Natural Resources Management programme that has empowered rural communities to conserve and manage their natural resources to improve their livelihoods.
During visits to the Lusese and Salambala conservancies on Monday, it became apparent that restrictions imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) have contributed to the reduction in the number of hunting quotas allocated to conservancies for some species.
This is despite their population increase and, in the process, leading to cases of human-wildlife conflict. Namibia is a signatory to the CITES convention, an international agreement between governments aimed to ensure that international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.
According to Lusese conservancy chairperson Charles Mwilima, multiple letters have been written to the Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Forestry by the conservancy that solely relies on hunting quotas for revenue, requesting for an increase in hunting quota allocations but that such requests have fallen on deaf ears.
"Our quotas have been reduced. For elephants, it was reduced from five to only two; for hippos, it is the same - and from 15 zebras to 10, including crocodiles. This has adversely affected our revenue and operations as we rely on hunting quotas to generate revenue. And this is despite, the abundant hippo and crocodile population in our conservancy," decried Mwilima.
An official of the ministry, Ellen Simataa, noted during the meeting that even though hunting quotas are determined following the annual game count exercise, some of the species are allocated to conservancies based on conditions set out by CITES.
"The annual game count is done in national parks and conservancies. From this, we determine the quota numbers. Another challenge we have is when contracted hunting operating companies don't complete the quota allocated. This can affect the next quota to be allocated. We are also tied by CITES regulations as Namibia is a signatory. The organisations determine for us how much quota to allocate for some of the species. We also have a pile of ivory tusks at the moment, which we cannot sell due to these restrictions. Perhaps parliament can take up some of these issues and resolve them," appealed Simataa.
Lawmakers felt it was unfair that international treaties and pressure groups can dictate to Africa how to manage its natural resources.
"We are being pressurised by these international organisations and treaties, which is very unfair, as people's livelihoods are being affected. Why should foreign countries command us when they don't even know the situation we are under? We have growing numbers of wildlife, some of which are killing and attacking our people and livestock - and just because of international laws that are not aligned with our situation here, we are forced not to come up with interventions of our own, queried Agnes Kafula, who is leading the team of parliamentarians.
Compensation policy
The two conservancies further lamented the compensation policy for losses incurred as a result of human-wildlife conflict and called for a review. Communities complain that the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism compensates farmers between N$1 000 and N$3 000 for livestock lost to predators, yet the market value for the livestock is around N$10 000.
Zambezi governor Lawrence Sampofu echoed similar sentiments when lawmakers paid him a courtesy call, adding that human-wildlife conflict has drastically increased due to the region finding itself in the middle of the Kavango, Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA), the second largest nature and landscape conservation area in the world, covering a landmass of over 519 912 square kilometres.
"We have experienced a high number of crocodiles attacking both people and animals, as well as hippo and lion attacks. We have also witnessed increasing destruction of crops by elephants and other animals, who at the same time compete for water with humans. We are in the area of KAZA, and this place has over 6 000 elephant population. The compensation given to farmers is too little, and there is a need for the ministry to look into this," implored Sampofu.
Governance
Despite some conservancies found in the region generating significant incomes, many continue to grapple with poor financial management and governance.
According to Sampofu, this has in turn affected operations leading some to fail.
"Even though some of these conservancies are generating a lot of money, some even exceeding N$2 million; misappropriation of money and poor management are common challenges. Some have become successful and have gone a step further by funding major projects, while others are still lagging," revealed Sampofu.
Tangeni Ijambo, who is part of the delegation of MPs, concurred with the governor and added that as part of mitigating measures, the ministry should devise ways to offer basic accounting and bookkeeping training to conservancy treasurers and other financial officers to be able to handle their finances diligently.
"Money is not easy to handle. Financial officers have to go through some kind of training to be able to properly manage these funds," appealed Ijambo.
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At Salambala Conservancy, one of the first to be set up in the region in 1998 and a once successful conservancy, MPs uncovered simmering tensions between members, which have drastically affected governance since the beginning of this year.
A power struggle has ensued, leading to the non-implementation of some of the major activities, such as the signing of a hunting contract and the payment of the salaries of game guards and other employees at the conservancy.
The situation has been aggravated by previous signatories to the conservancy account, who have been uncooperative and have not been able to hand over power due to the dispute.
This despite, the matter having been attended by the Deputy Minister of Environment, Tourism and Forestry Heather Sibungo and the Masubia Traditional Authority in whose jurisdiction the conservancy falls.
Kafula appealed to Sampofu to intervene in the matter.
The subcommittee will further visit other conservancies in the region, such as Balyerwa, Dzoti, Bamunu, Mashi, Mayuni, Kwandu, Sobbe and Sikunga. The Zambezi region has three game parks, 15 conservancies and one association.
There are about 86 registered conservancies in Namibia, with 15 of them in the Zambezi region, including three game parks and one association.
*George Sanzila works for the Division: Research, Information, Publications and Editorial Services at the National Assembly
