ZimConservation

HARARE // Zimbabwe’s national flower, the flame lily, is facing possible extinction because of illegal harvesting and trade. Togara Makotose, 27, a flame lily poacher from Epworth, a slum east of Harare, said he knows that picking the flower and selling it is illegal, but that he can make a good living from it. He gets the flowers from forests in Dambakurimwa, 10km north of where he lives, and sells them for US$8 per bouquet on a roadside in the affluent suburb of Borrowdale, a lot of money in impoverished Zimbabwe. More online at The National…

HARARE – A wildlife trust was recently launched in Zimbabwe to help further the conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitats. The Animal and Wildlife Area Research and Rehabilitation (AWARE) Trust will offer services such as free veterinary treatment to wild animals and facilitate conservation and education campaigns around animal health and welfare. More online at The Zimbabwean…

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (AlertNet) – The double pressures of climate change and poverty threaten to make Africa one of the regions hardest hit by coming climate-related problems. Nowhere is that more evident than in Zimbabwe, where the urban poor already struggle to survive in a harsh economic climate. Like many in Zimbabwe these days, Tinowimba Makoni, 33, is unemployed. A resident of Dangamvura, a township in Zimbabwe’s eastern city of Mutare, he survives by cutting and selling firewood. Mutare, located on the border with Mozambique, is Zimbabwe’s fourth largest city and is spectacularly located in a valley surrounded by several ranges of mountains. For years the mountains have been known for their lush vegetation. More online at AlertNet…

The government of Botswana has stepped up its efforts to level its relations with the neighbouring Zimbabwe. This follows the visit by the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Dikgakgamatso Ndelu Seretse, to Harare just ahead of the 26th Session of the Botswana/Zimbabwe Bilateral Joint Permanent Commission on Defence and Security scheduled for 22-26 February 2010, in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The Joint Permanent Commission will discuss all matters relating to defence and security relations between the two countries. Some of the issues washed aside just before the bilateral commission meeting was the release of the three Botswana rangers arrested and charged in Zimbabwe, as well as the confiscation of Botswana property in rifles and vehicles used by the rangers. More online at afrol news…

HARARE – Zimbabwe has returned a car and rifles seized from three Botswana rangers in January as part of moves to ease tensions between the two countries, a Tswana government official said yesterday, as a bilateral meeting between the two countries began in Victoria Falls. The rangers were arrested last month when they strayed into Zimbabwe while tracking wildlife and spent weeks in jail before they were prosecuted for entering the country illegally, a move that escalated a diplomatic row and further strained ties that have cooled in recent years. More online at ZimOnline…

THE resort town of Victoria Falls has become the first green destination in Africa a plus for the natural wonder that will help it attract more tourists. Launching the Victoria Falls Green Fund at the Victoria Falls rainforest last week, Environmental and Natural Resources Management Minister Francis Nhema said it was essential to maintain the resort’s World Heritage Status. The VFGF is an initiative by Environment Africa and its partners to encourage conservation and community development in and around Victoria Falls. “The fund is meant to protect Victoria Falls not only as a natural wonder but as a world heritage site. More online at allAfrica.com…

Official ceremonies, by their very nature tend to be dull. The KAZA signing ceremony in Victoria Falls fitted the bill perfectly. But the signing was done, and it is another massive step forward for the latest and largest Transfrontier Conservancy Area (TCA) in Africa. Peace Parks Foundation was set up in 1998 to facilitate the formation of Transfrontier parks. Since then, it has helped with two successful agreements forming |Ai-|Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park, which links South Africa and Namibia; also Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which links South Africa and Botswana. More online at eTurboNews…

Harare — Poaching has significantly decreased over the past 15 months because of heightened security, the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has said. Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Ms Caroline Washaya-Moyo said 2009 saw a 32 percent decline in poaching as compared to 2008. “Over 70 rhinos were killed in 2008 and 2009 saw a reduction in poaching by 32 percent. This showed increased security by the Parks Authority despite the shortage of resources the authority is currently facing,” she said. More online at allAfrica.com…

AN alert Guruve policeman last Thursday arrested two suspected poachers who had 14 pieces of elephant tusks stashed in two suitcases on board a Harare-bound bus. Mashonaland Central provincial police spokesperson Inspector Memory Pamire said the duo, whose names are still to be released, boarded a commuter omnibus at Mavuradonha Escarpment in the Guruve area with the suitcases. More online at The Sunday Mail…

Game rangers in Zimbabwe said Friday they had killed a Zambian poacher and arrested eight others, after a shoot-out in a wildlife park near the countries’ common border.
They said they recovered 20 elephant tusks, rifles and other arms from the suspe cted poachers in Binga, in the north of the country. Poaching in the area is rife, prompting the Zimbabwe government to introduce arm y and police patrols to back up the game rangers. Often the poaching is blamed on syndicates from Zambia who target elephants and endangered black rhinos. In the shoot-out, game rangers said police took part in the skirmish in which on e of the Zambian poachers died. Harare – Pana 19/02/2010. From Afrique en ligne…

The declining momentum of community-based natural resource management movement in Southern Africa is threatening to erode major gains that were registered in the past two decades unless urgent steps are taken to revive this critical livelihood strategy for poverty alleviation and a sustainable environment. Environmental experts who met recently to review community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) programs in the Zimbabwe capital, Harare, say the decline in the momentum of the implementation of the CBNRM programs is accelerating the rapid loss of biodiversity and wildlife. They expressed concern over the rapid loss of the country’s biodiversity, wild life and other natural resources as rural communities are increasingly being sidelined by the rural district councils (RDCs) from benefiting from the natural resources. More online at Black Star News…

Now that Zimbabwe security forces stand accused by CITES of involvement in the country’s wildlife poaching crisis, there is speculation that this corruption extends to a “rhino horn for weapons” deal with China. If the Zimbabwean government’s deal to acquire Chinese weapons includes access to rhino horn, it would certainly help explain the country’s loss of a quarter of its rhino population and abysmal conviction rate for rhino poaching. Suspicious coincidences? More online at Rhino Conservation…

GABORONE –Three wildlife officers from Botswana have been declared prohibited persons in Zimbabwe, persona non grata by the police in that country after pleading not guilty to crossing into Zimbabwe illegally. Ironically, this comes after the courts found them not guilty on two of the three charges they faced and were released after paying a fine. The move, reflective of paranoia, has further strained the relationship between Harare and Gaborone and the development is likely to soil economic initiatives between the two countries. “We view this as an unfortunate event because our countries’ Wildlife Officers must genuinely cooperate in the development of the envisaged Trans-frontier Conservation areas. The imposed movement restriction is not conducive to the spirit of Trans-frontier Conservation,” reads a communiqué from Botswana’s Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism. More online at Botswana Business Diary…

Harare — Zimbabwe needs a holistic approach to solving problems affecting the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority if the country is to end rhino poaching, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said. During a meeting with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species secretary-general Mr Willem Wijnstekers at his offices in Harare yesterday, PM Tsvangirai said the international community should capacitate Zimbabwe to fully deal with poaching. More online at AllAfrica.com…

Robert Mugabe’s government has declared the three Botswana wildlife officers who were charged with entering Zimbabwe illegally prohibited persons in that country. The three officers from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks returned home after they appeared before a Magistrate in Zimbabwe. They were found not guilty on two of the three charges they faced and released after paying a combined fine of about US$600. More online at The Botswana Gazette…

National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority of Zimbabwe representatives have joined forces with the Bumi Hills Anti Poaching Unit to provide them with armed back-up, the right of arrest and much needed manpower during their patrols of the Bumi region. Poaching in Zimbabwe, like anywhere in the world, is an ongoing social and economic problem. As a result the safety and welfare of the wildlife in Zimbabwe’s Parks has been severely threatened. The added support of the National Parks’ scouts during the Unit’s patrols over the last four months, has led to the retrieval and disposal of over 1000 snares. The initial threats of beatings and death issued to the Unit by some local poachers have also subsided. More online at Travel Wires…

HARARE, Zimbabwe — The leader of a U.N. program to protect endangered species on Thursday charged that Zimbabwean security forces are spearheading poaching of elephants and rhinos in the troubled country. At a news conference Thursday in Harare, Willem Wijnstekers, secretary-general of the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said security forces had killed about 200 rhinos over the past two years, putting that population on the verge of extinction in Zimbabwe. He did not give a figure on elephants. More online at The Washington Post…

Harare — Zimbabwe has the appropriate policies and legal instruments to conserve its wildlife and natural resources but needs support with resources, a Cabinet minister has said. In a meeting with Convention of Trade in Endangered Species secretary-general Mr Willen Wijnstekers at his offices yesterday, Environment and Natural Resources Management Minister Francis Nhema said reports about increased poaching in Zimbabwe were false. He said people opposed to the indigenisation of the commercial wildlife sector were behind the claims. More online at AllAfrica.com…

The Zimbabwe government is appealing a Monday court ruling in which a Magistrate’s court dropped two of the three counts that Botswana wildlife officers were facing in the country. The officers were facing charges of entering the country illegally, smuggling a vehicle into the country, and possession of firearms and ammunition without a licence. They were fined USD100 each for illegal entry into the country, while the other charges were dropped. The three officers were released yesterday but the vehicle and firearms were confiscated so they could be used as evidence in the appeal case, said Botswana Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Gladys Kokorwe. The three officers spent their last night in jail on Monday after the acquittal, as they had to wait for immigration officials to escort them to the border. They were arrested on January 19, after they accidentally crossed into the country while tracking lions that had been terrorising farmers at Lesoma village along the borderline. More online at Mmegi Online…

HARARE – CITES secretary general Willem Wijnstekers on Wednesday said his visit to Zimbabwe is meant to help rather than punish Harare, as he began his official business in the southern African country. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) chief jetted into Harare late Monday accompanied by the conservation watchdog’s chief enforcement officer responsible for providing technical advice and support in relation to the enforcement of the Convention, John Sellar. “We are not here to punish but to help,” said Wijnstekers, adding that he wanted to get first hand information on poaching statistics which have been circulated in the media. More online at ZimOnline…