Wildlife conservation and environmental management in an ‘outpost of tyranny’ 

By Brian Gratwicke & Brent Steenkamp

Executive summary

Zimbabwe finds itself in the midst of an unprecedented political and social upheaval as a direct result of the government-instigated private-land seizures that began in the year 2000. Throughout this tumoil there has been a widespread fear of state agents, lack of fuel, corruption and a rampant disregard for ethics, hyperinflation, a lack of foreign currency, loss of skilled professionals to other countries, a disintegrating education system, widespread HIV and skyrocketing mortality rates, a collapsing tourism industry and a general lack of information about what is really happening in the country. 

These rapid social and economic changes have been extremely detrimental to both wildlife and environment, yet the wildlife crisis has been somewhat overlooked given the overwhelming humanitarian disaster gripping the country. Information about the wildlife and conservation industry is scarce and otherwise anecdotal as many wildlife management systems have been dismantled. Even so, a reflective analysis of anecdotal reports reveals some consistent patterns: 

- Wildlife on most of the privately owned conservancies and game farms in the dryer areas of the country have been severely poached by a variety of people exploiting the break down of the rule of law. 

- The damage to Zimbabwe’s wildlife heritage has not been systematically assessed due to the prevailing war-like situation on the ground, but all reports point to catastrophic losses of irreplaceable endangered species such as black rhinos and painted dogs, as well as the destruction of commercially important herds of wildlife. 

- The Communal Lands and National Parks have been less severely affected, but worrying reports indicate that the security of wildlife and the environment in these areas continues to deteriorate daily, and risks to animal populations in these areas are increasing due to chronic environmental problems, increasingly uninformed and irrational actions by politicians, loss of human capacity and deteriorating infrastructure. 

Chronic environmental problems affecting Zimbabwe include deforestation and overgrazing, water pollution, invasive plant and animal species, uncontrolled fires, human-wildlife conflict, dams, elephant over-population and wildlife borne disease. Zimbabwe is sorely lacking the finances and expertise to systematically tackle these problems, and many of the management, mitigation and education programs in place prior to the year 2000 have stopped due to the deteriorating working conditions and the flight of conservation professionals. The prevailing situation has severely demoralised the remaining conservation professionals and educators. 

Recommendations 

- Foreign governments and agencies should a) support and encourage access to conservation information and educational materials; b) support the prioritisation of conservation needs; c) avoid direct funding and/or antagonization of the government; d) actively praise and recognize positive actions and innovations developed by the remaining conservation-related organizations e) start small, flexible grant-programs to provide conservation opportunities and to cultivate what is left of Zimbabwe’s remaining conservation skills base; f) provide tourists with balanced information about the risks and benefits of travelling to Zimbabwe, bearing in mind the crucial economic links between Zimbabwe’s wildlife and its tourism industries. 

- Local conservation NGO’s should a) continue to explore and implement, wherever possible, pragmatic solutions to conservation problems; b) forge local alliances and communicate lessons-learned through local forums; c) establish close contact with multi-laterals and international organisations; d) identify and prioritise the environmental problems under the current regime; e) maintain relationships with reform-minded government officials; f) keep detailed records of past and present wildlife populations. 

- The Zimbabwean Government should a) work to strengthen democratic institutions; b) resolve and land-tenure disputes in a fair, professional and legally sound manner; c) facilitate the visits of international researchers, NGO’s and multilateral institutions; d) work in co-operation with neighbouring Southern African nations on transboundary conservation initiatives; e) increase funding to wildlife management and protection departments; f) reduce the population pressure in rural areas by providing incentives and opportunities that encourage rural-urban migration; g) allow foreign and local journalists free access to rural areas and National parks; h) implement constitutional reforms that protect the wildlife, environment and biodiversity found in Zimbabwe. 

- Opposition parties should a) seek to de-politicise wildlife conservation issues; b) consult with locally-based professionals and stakeholders to form a comprehensive wildlife policy and recovery plan, then use it as part of the election platform c) the shadow minister for environment and tourism should convene conservation meetings and conferences to promote internal communications and dialogue among conservation groups.

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Introduction

Zimbabwe is a land defined largely by its wildlife—arguably more so than any nation on earth. For centuries, humans have been drawn to this expanse of Southern Africa for its herds of game, impressive safaris, and the charismatic representatives of the animal kingdom that await even the casual observer. Moreover, the country’s breathtaking landscapes are testament to the rich natural wonders and the outstanding potential of this country, which has only been unlocked in a few high-profile areas. 

Today Zimbabwe’s wildlife and the environment are threatened at unprecedented levels due to the rapid social and economic changes occurring in the country due to mismanagement by its rogue government. In most countries, lawlessness is a consequence of war, revolution or some other civic breakdown – as in Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone or Somalia. Some dictatorships use lawlessness as a means of attaining power and incorporate lawless elements into their general repressive apparatus – although sometimes purging them as the Nazis did with the SA. What makes Zimbabwe unique is that the government promoted lawlessness as a deliberate instrument of policy. Back in 2000 the country was at peace, it faced no external threat and possessed functioning (well, sort of functioning) institutions. There is absolutely no reason why land reform could not have been done in a planned, orderly and equitable way. There was no public demand for farm invasions and the government engineered the whole land crisis to eliminate political opposition. Of course, they forgot about the law of unintended consequences and now face a great number of problems that might, at some time in the future, lead to a genuine breakdown of law and order. One problem is that by encouraging lawlessness and using the police to promote it, they have lost the ability to restore order even if they wanted to. 

In Africa, the only possible analogy is Idi Amin’s expulsion of the Asians in the 1970s. But it differs in that Amin came to power in a military coup, itself a lawless act. The resulting changes in Zimbabwe have been extremely detrimental to the wildlife and environment but this crisis has been somewhat overlooked given the scale of the humanitarian disaster gripping the country. Information about the conservation industry is scarce and anecdotal due to the corresponding break down in many of the wildlife management systems. Unlike the recent past, when more organized systems of efficient environmental management monitored and preserved large tracts of the country’s flora and fauna, Zimbabwe’s current political and environmental upheaval has created its own brand of natural catastrophe that threatens lives, both animal and human. 

We seek to present a current and accurate assessment of the state of wildlife, conservation and environmental management in Zimbabwe. As the situation in country becomes more aggravated, reliable information is scarce and the true state of affairs becomes elusive, and compiling this report has been 4 years in the making. Journalists continue to be personally threatened, and the curious foreigner is prohibited access to huge areas of the country. Whereas reports from the ground are politicised and incomplete, reports from abroad can lean towards the sensational. The chaos is further stoked as the Zimbabwean conservation community finds itself divided by crisis and politics. In the absence of systematically collected first-source data, this report represents a synthesis of hundreds of resources, current reports, and seeks to provide an honest and penetrating analysis of the most pressing issues affecting Zimbabwe’s conservation sector. 

Environmental problems

Through our research, we sought to identify the main environmental problems afflicting Zimbabwe, listed in degree of importance. None these problems are new to Zimbabwe and some very comprehensive baseline studies prior to the recent political upheaval exist for many of these problems. This paper does not aim to provide detailed historical accounts, but weaves together some of the most recent available reports to provide an overview and some context to the environmental challenges facing Zimbabwe.

(1) Poaching – The illegal killing and consumption of Zimbabwe’s animal species continues to pose the most serious threat to the future sustainability of the country’s wildlife reserves and game farming activities. The lack of property rights (especially now that land has been nationalized) is a key factor compounding the loss of wild animal populations. The Parks & Wild Life Act of 1975 was an extraordinarily progressive piece of legislation and unique – certainly in Africa and perhaps elsewhere – in that wildlife became the property of the landowner, apart from a few specially protected species. However, now that land ownership is very insecure, wildlife is simply viewed by some new landowners as an asset to be stripped from the land before it is re-confiscated. Lack of reporting, lawlessness, and impunity are contributing to the unheard extermination of wildlife populations. 

Three major types of poaching pervade in Zimbabwe today: Subsistence, Sport, and Commercial. Subsistence poaching reflects an opportunistic response to the combination of poverty, lack of food, and the disintegrating economy and rule of law in country. Many independent news reports affirm that thousands of rural poor cut through wire fences on conservancies and commercial farms, then use this wire to make snares to catch wild animals for food both on private land and in the bush [1, 2] (Fig 1). 

Similar circumstances of poverty and desperation have led to the utter depletion of wildlife in other Sub-Saharan African countries. Illegal sport hunters, most of which are visitors from South Africa, have been quick to take advantage of the breakdown in rule of law to seek the thrill of the kill or simply to harvest venison for “biltong” (a dried meat delicacy) or hides (especially zebra hides) that are then smuggled into South Africa for commercial trade [3]. Impunity and the lack of regulation have given Zimbabwe a reputation among such undesirable tourists, and they are likely to continue exploiting the shambles that the government has created around property rights. Commercial poaching outfits usually operate for profit in the form of bush meat and/or trophies [1, 4-7]. Such outfits tend to be politically connected and therefore allowed access to once-protected areas, and there are several reports indicating that unscrupulous South-African based safari-hunting operations are bringing ignorant or uncaring clients in to shoot trophies in unregulated situations such as game farms from which previous owners have been evicted. In connection to this rapidly evolving business venture, one hears occasional reports of “self-pillaging” by the government, including the worrying development that uniformed officials from the government and military are poaching animals in parks and on conservancies. One such case reported that army helicopters were used to transport antelope carcasses [1, 5, 8, 9], while in another incident, landmines were used to kill hippos.

These poaching reports have been fairly widespread across the game rich areas of the country in the northwest, southwest and southeast, and have concentrated on former game farms, conservancies and commercial farms. Poaching of former wildlife conservancies is much more extensive than the isolated reports from the National parks, and this was originally fuelled by the breakdown of law-and-order associated with President Mugabe’s land-reform program. Some senior government officials have actively advocated disruptions and poaching on land that was formerly privately owned as spoils of war [11, 12]. 

Another alarming development is incidents of poaching in national park areas and across national borders [10]. This indicates a break down in the rule of law, and a reduction in the quality of management of core protected areas, that would normally be a potential conservation safety net to re-stock formerly privately owned lands if and when the current land dispute is resolved. Efforts to curb poaching incidents in national parks are hindered by the constant lack of resources and on occasions, direct interference by the State [13].

Accurate monitoring of the poachers’ toll is impossible. Wildlife researchers and law enforcement are now barred from going into many former game farms and safari concessions, making any systematic appraisal impossible under the current regime. These areas often abut National parks and it is likely that they represent wildlife sinks for animals that move beyond National Park boundaries [7, 8, 14]. A few well-documented cases offer a tip-of-the-iceberg view of the situation. For example, two years ago, there were sixteen black rhinos killed in Matusadonna and Hwange National Parks [15]. In light of such developments, 30 rhinos were recently re-located from high-risk game-farms to safer, more protected areas. In 2003 it is estimated that 1 in 10 of Zimbabwe’s 550 black rhinos has been lost to poachers and illegal safari hunters between and 2000-2003 [1, 15, 17]. Another high-profile case is that of the painted hunting dog where over one 18-month period, three out of five study packs of painted hunting dogs were lost to poacher’s snares [2, 18, 19]. 

On the demand side of the equation, the international market for illegal wildlife products is probably increasing and Zimbabwe’s warm relations with China poses a worrying development in this regard [20, 21]. China’s rising place in the global economy, along with its insatiable taste for wildlife products—mostly in connection with traditional Chinese medicine—pose a huge threat to endangered species worldwide [17, 22]. Zimbabwe appears to be emerging as a new focus of supply and a group of Chinese nationals was recently arrested in Zimbabwe with 67 illegally procured elephant tusks [23]. The situation clearly demands closer international monitoring. 

(2) Deforestation and Overgrazing – Prior to the year 2000, meticulous documentation highlighted that deforestation was a major problem in Zimbabwe. Forest cover declined from 57% in 1990 to 49% in 2000, and 44% in 2005, a rate of loss over six times higher than the global average [24].25? In 2000, communal lands held an average of 6.3t of indigenous wood stock per hectare, while privately owned land held three times as much, 20t/ha (reflecting sound land-management practices in the latter), while national parks held 49t/ha (reflecting the non-extractive land use in these areas) [25]. This is excellent baseline data, and a more recent analysis would be both invaluable and revealing, because sporadic reports suggest that a general practice of slash-and-burn agriculture is taking place on resettled land [26]. This particularly environmentally unfriendly method is detrimental not only to wildlife, but to the land itself and the problem stems from a demand for quick cash crop returns combined with a lack of education on proper farming techniques. In addition, free ranging cattle and goats on public and private has contributed to severe cases of overgrazing that are often irreversible. 

Aside from the denuding of designated private lands, the deforestation problem is extremely pronounced in communal lands with high population pressure [27] and is a growing problem near urban areas with high population densities, frequent power cuts, and acute paraffin shortages [28]. A recent report quotes a wood seller on the outskirts of Harare: 

“This is the only business I can do because I have no capital to start any other project. For this, I just need an axe” [28]. 

The critical shortage of fuel due to the lack of foreign currency from exports (formerly earned from the commercial farming sector) means that the average fuel consumption and CO2 emissions declined from 1.6 tons per capita in 1990 to just 1 ton per capita in 2002, but it is unclear whether the associate increase in consumption of wood fuel has been factored into this calculation [29]. The government is exploring several imaginative alternative energy schemes [30-33], but lacks the expertise or financial resources to achieve any of them to any meaningful scale or implementation [31]. 

(3) Pollution – Lack of governance and accountability, paired with the current survivalist mentality of the average Zimbabwean city council (and citizen), have led to severe cases of water pollution. The prime example is the Manyame River, which runs into Lake Chivero, which is Harare’s main reservoir for drinking water. The municipalities of Harare, Ruwa and Chitungwiza, along with the highest concentration of industry in the country, have all been discharging—at best—very poorly treated, and at worst, completely untreated waste-water into the Manyame River and its tributaries. The resulting degradation of the river and eutrophication of the reservoir have resulted in huge fish kills, prolific growth of invasive weeds, and exorbitant water processing costs [34-37]. News reports on the issue from other parts of the country indicate that the Manyame River is not an isolated case [38, 39]. 

Illegal gold panning in rivers has become epidemic amongst poverty-stricken people hoping to strike it rich [15, 39-42], apart from the devastation of river beds due to digging and siltation in rivers, the mercury used by illegal gold panners is being discarded into water bodies and accumulating in fish and higher up the food chain [43, 44]. The attitude towards panners from the government ranges from encouragement to eviction depending on the political context or simply the day of the week. [40, 45]. The resulting siltation of dams and rivers is a largely unstudied, but judging from severe gully erosion in numerous areas around the country [25, 28]one can only guess that the effects on aquatic life must be pronounced.

(4) Alien Species – Zimbabwe has a serious problem with invasive plant and animal species. Some of the most notorious plant culprits are Lantana camara a noxious terrestrial weed and Water hyacinth an aquatic nuisance that blankets water bodies especially if accompanied by eutrophication [34, 37, 46]. New plants are often introduced and exotic plantations established according to the whim of a minister or development group often with little or no consideration of their potential environmental impacts or invasive qualities [ e.g.33, 47-49]. Zimbabwe’s fish fauna have also been considerably altered through introduction of exotic predators like largemouth bass, trout and robustus bream that prey on smaller native species [50, 51], while Nile tilapia have escaped from fish farms and are possibly hybridizing with native Mossambican bream throughout the country. 

(5) Fires – As conservancies and commercial farms were invaded, one of the first actions of the settlers was to burn the land, to flush out game for hunting or simply as an act of arson to destroy habitat and to scare landowners off their properties [52]. In some cases, these spread to National parks, causing severe management problems for game wardens [53, 54]. While savannah ecosystems are fire-dependent to some extent, if fires are extensively lit at the wrong time of year this destroys valuable fodder for wild and domestic animals, and encourages bush-encroachment [54-56]. Recent uncontrolled fires in the Eastern Highlands have severely affected conservancies and wildlife populations, national parks and destroyed nearly 2000 ha of plantation forests [54, 57].

(6) Human-Wildlife Conflict – Historically, humans have battled with wildlife in Zimbabwe and regarded wild animals as vermin, crop-raiders, livestock predators or vectors of disease [58]. A change of attitude came about in the 1960’s as the aesthetic and economic values of diminishing wildlife populations became apparent [58]. In recent years much progress has been made to reduce human-wildlife conflict with methods far more creative than simply shooting ‘problem’ animals. The conflict mitigation methods included costly investments in tsetse fly control, electric fence construction, planting of chili peppers to deter elephants and sophisticated game management with harvest quotas to keep animal numbers at optimal carrying capacity [59, 60]. 

In many areas around the country without sophisticated barriers or conflict mitigation measures, wild animals cause significant damage. For example, in one communal area near Hwange in 2002 elephants destroyed up to 90% of people’s crops and trampled 21 people to death [61]. However CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources) programs in the area that helped local communities to reap financial benefits associated with living with dangerous animals on their land primarily by selling strictly regulated quotas of animals to foreign hunters and then dividing the proceeds within the community, thus easing the economic burden of living alongside wildlife [59, 61]. If CAMPFIRE’s market for wildlife through hunting and tourism is not maintained and cultivated, then there is the risk that the cost-benefit scales will tip against the wildlife. A recent report serves to illustrate this point, as locals in Guruve are cashing in on their elephants to sell the ivory on the black market [6].

(7) Dams – Zimbabwe has one of the highest densities of dams of any country on the planet, and they continue to be built (albeit at a slow rate) amid signals from the government suggesting that they strongly favour dam-construction as the solution to Zimbabwe’s agricultural woes [62, 63]. Of the 9,818 dams in Zimbabwe most occur on former commercial farmlands where they were used for irrigation of crops while only 6% of the dams occur on communal lands [64]. Dams have had a considerable impact on Zimbabwe’s biological diversity and migratory fish populations. They act as barriers to fish migration, they create artificial lake habitats where historically there were none, and they are often points of introduction of harmful invasive species of fish and plants [50]. 

Given the collapse of the commercial farming industry, the lack of financing for commercial and communal agriculture, and that most potential dam sites on former commercial farmlands have already been developed, the continued construction of dams in Zimbabwe is unlikely to continue to be a real threat. What is really needed is a close scientific examination of the condition of Zimbabwe’s fluvial and other wetland ecosystems, such as dambos [65]. The few remaining non-dammed rivers and unimpacted dambo ecosystems should be given protected status and research needs to be carried out into potential ways to restore the degraded systems. Older dams like Mutirikwi that are in need of maintenance should be repaired or decommissioned as they are cracking and pose flooding risks to people downstream [66].

(8) Elephants – Elephants are an extremely charismatic species that have been an international conservation lightning rod; Zimbabwe today is in the unenviable position of having too many elephants – about 100,000, or 1/5th of Africa’s population [56]. These huge animals can be enormously destructive and destroy the very habitats that sustain them. Some argue that habitats are already so degraded and that game are at such high densities that some elephants are thought to have starved to death due to a lack of food and water [67]. To solve the problem and avoid the previous international criticism associated with its culling operations, the National parks is auctioning elephants off to game farmers in order to reduce the population pressure [68], but it is unclear as to whether a single elephant has been sold under this scheme yet. It was in the context of huge ivory stockpiles from early culling operations that Zimbabwe successfully lobbied for the resumption in international trade in ivory. 

The re-opening of the trade in ivory in 1997 resulted in an experimental auction to Japanese buyers that realized much lower revenues than were expected because bidders simply divided up the lots amongst themselves prior to the auction [69]. Dr. Mtsambiwa, director of Zimbabwe’s National Parks service now complains of a lack of funds to manage Zimbabwe’s elephant population, [70] yet he admitted that no CITES money from the ivory sales was spent directly on elephant conservation work. On the other hand, it is widely reported that the lifting of the trade ban in ivory has resulted in a boom in international ivory markets and of elephant poaching [5, 22, 71]. Zimbabwe is therefore walking a tightrope between managing its own burgeoning elephant population and other countries where the viability of their small elephant populations is threatened by poaching. It is clear that Zimbabwe needs to adopt a careful, responsible and scientifically rigorous management program that results in secure, but manageable elephant numbers not just in Zimbabwe, but further afield.

(9) Wildlife-Borne Disease – As settlers moved onto conservancies, they systematically ripped down game fences, letting game animals out into areas with domestic livestock. Several hundred head of cattle have also died of theileriosis which spread from buffalo to cattle by ticks, but the situation appears to have stabilised [11]. According to veterinarians, the current scenario has resulted in foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks [11]. The FAO has donated thousands of vaccine doses, but their application is of limited use where controls of cattle movements have been broken down. The risk of a foot and mouth disease over the last few years has also made the government of Botswana twitchy enough to have erected an electric fence along the Zimbabwe border to prevent any Zimbabwean disease outbreaks from wrecking their valuable cattle industry. However, critics have speculated that keeping Zimbabwean refugees out is an added, and possibly a more desirable benefit than disease control [72]. Anthrax is another potential threat, and in 2004 an outbreak in the Save valley killed over 1500 animals but was contained by the landowner and veterinary experts [73]. The most recent outbreak in Masvingo has killed 3 people and 130 cattle [74].

Land tenure

There are three main types of land tenure in Zimbabwe – privately owned, communally owned, and national parks land. The privately owned land has been the epicentre of Zimbabwe’s current crisis and has undergone severe changes in recent years, while the other two systems have been affected indirectly as a result of the breakdown of the rule of law and the commercial farming sector that was Zimbabwe’s economic backbone prior to 2000.

(1) Private Land – In 2000, commercial farmers (mainly white) owned slightly over 8 million ha of land (21% Zimbabwe’s land area) under a free-hold land tenure system used to grant the owner full, perpetual rights over their land [25] Landowners, as in much of the developed world were able to use their title deeds as collateral to obtain loans from banks in order to develop their commercial enterprises. This system was so successful that Zimbabwe produced food for export throughout the SADC region, supplied 10% of Europe’s horticultural imports and was the world’s second largest tobacco producer. From a conservation perspective, these lands had much the same environmental issues as commercial farms everywhere else in the world. Skilled professionals with university degrees usually tackled these problems and had access to capital and could manage their land according to best practices. Land ownership provided a real incentive to carefully manage land for long-term sustainability [25]. Some of the environmental problems associated with private lands included: over-use of pesticides and fertilizers, dam construction, invasive species, forest clearance for agriculture and water pollution resulting from concentrated livestock operations. 

What was particularly interesting from a conservation perspective was the growing popularity of wildlife farming and ranching, which satisfied the twin aims of biodiversity conservation and profit. Research showed that it was more profitable to farm wildlife than cattle in drier regions receiving rainfall below 750mm/year [59]. By 1995, the wildlife producer’s association had 351 members with over 250,600 head of game [75]. 

Private land tenure is now a quagmire with land being grabbed by peasants who were incited, or in some cases paid, to do so by politicians [76]. This land was re-grabbed by the politicians and traded between Zanu PF officials, police and army officials depending on whose in favour that particular day [77-79], but the land itself is an asset that proves very difficult to liquidate, especially under the current circumstances.

Wildlife farms and game conservancies were no more spared: In 2002, just 2 years into the “fast-track land reform” the chairman of the wildlife producer’s association remarked “It is estimated conservatively that we have lost about 50% of our wildlife, 65% of our tourism in the country and up to 90% safari hunting on commercial farms, and a huge reduction in capture and translocations of wildlife on conservancies” [75]. All reports to the police of random individuals driving onto former game farms and shooting were ignored by the police, resulting in a war zone [12, 75] on privately owned land where whole fences have been turned into thousands of snares killing thousands of animals, particularly in Matabeleland South and Mashonaland West [75]. Records maintained from just 14 farms that were not declared “no-go areas” in the Save Conservancy indicate that between 2001 and 2002, 1150 animal carcases were recovered from snares representing a trophy value of US$656,000 [80] (Fig 2). The illegal settlers were overtly hostile and threatening towards tourists with cameras as they did not want to appear in any photographic records [4]. 22% of the Save Conservancy is now occupied by illegal settlers, 80km of perimeter fence have been removed and there are 5000 cattle living in the conservancy where they are coming into contact with buffalo that are infected with foot and mouth disease [81]. 

Recently, the government declared through the State-owned newspaper that illegal settlers in the Save Valley, Gwayi, Bubi, Bubye Bibiana, Bubiana, Dete and Hwange Conservancies were degrading the vegetation and decimating the wildlife, that they would be removed and that the land would continue to be run as conservancies [12, 57, 82] (Fig 3). However, along with much of the other rhetoric associated with land reform, no constructive action taken because the government is sorely lacking the resources, expertise and will-power.

(2) Communal Land – 42% of Zimbabwe’s land surface is occupied by 66% of its population under a system where the State President grants usufruct rights to villagers and chiefs. There is no legal security of land tenure and title deeds do not exist thus farming occurs mostly at a subsistence level, resulting in only minimal reinvestment in the land and an absence of economies of scale. Because of their high population pressure, communal lands are severely degraded from an environmental perspective, the most common problems being severe deforestation compounded by chronic overgrazing and erosion. The resulting desertification on communal lands is clearly visible from satellite images, often following fence-lines rather than underlying geology [27] (Fig 4). 

Despite the prevalence of these environmental problems, some Communal areas had fairly significant game populations and hunting was strictly controlled by the state with any proceeds being channelled to the central government until the formation of CAMPFIRE – (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources). CAMPFIRE was a radical change in policy because it recognized that local communities should benefit directly from the wildlife resources on their land, in so doing, they develop a sense of ownership and custodianship over their wildlife. This year, CAMPFIRE hunting revenues amounted to Z$5 billion (US$3 million), which is nearly 10% of all hunting revenue generated in the 2005 hunting-season. Over 50% of the revenue was disbursed back to the communities where the revenue was generated [83-85]. Sight-seeing, as opposed to hunting has long been coveted as an area for CAMPFIRE to diversify into so that it can expand its revenue base [83], but this remains unlikely given that Zimbabwe is perceived abroad as a politically unstable and dangerous destination for people with fair complexions.

Communal lands have traditionally been very poor, environmentally degraded areas due to the high human and livestock population densities and it is uncertain whether the land reform programme will result in any real benefits to communal landscapes, even though one of the government’s reasons for justifying the land confiscation was that they wanted to reduce population pressure in communally owned areas. Historically, some private conservancies have provided technical support, management skills and land to surrounding CAMPFIRE areas, but since the demise of the private landowners many of their skilled wildlife professionals have moved elsewhere [86]. 

(3) National Parks – 15% of the country is classified as protected land in the form of National Parks, Safari Areas and Forest Reserves. They had established a reputation as some of the best-managed parks in the world, run by highly trained, professional staff [59, 87]. National Parks and Forests have apparently escaped relatively unscathed in the recent upheaval [1, 88], but some have periodically been target of opportunism and illegal hunting or wood harvesting [89]. 

The bankruptcy of the State has severely affected the work of those people that have been trying to maintain some state of normalcy in the National Parks systems who acutely need equipment, such as vehicles for anti-poaching operations and fuel to run the pumps that keep waterholes filled [1, 13]. Technologically, the National Parks system has been left in the 1980’s as the staff members have limited computer access and most records and report and accounting systems are hand-written. The Zimbabwe National Parks Authority does not host a website. 

Of all the National Parks, settlers have so far invaded only Gonarezohou, claiming historical rights to about 11,000ha [11]. A regional governor has actively encouraged their actions, but the Minister of the Environment simply denies that the settlers exist [11]. The Great-Limpopo Trans-Frontier Park has 

come under intense criticism due to these land-invasions, the break down in rule of law, and the poaching reports from the surrounding conservancies that were supposed to be a part of the larger park [8, 91, 92]. Donors have been very wary of giving money to Zimbabwe as there is limited accountability for funds that get sent through the Zimbabwean government, however the authorities seem to have found a loophole in a NEPAD funding agreement and have now declared that the park belongs to SADC. According to this logic, that Zimbabwe can access the fund even though its appalling governance record forbids this [92, 93]. Zanu-PF, with considerable support from neighbouring governments continues to bury its head in the sand and routinely denies that there are any environmental problems, or land invasions, affecting the park—despite numerous reports and photographic evidence to the contrary [94-96]. This messaging war only achieves a mood of unhealthy uncertainty, deterring tourists and resulting in the non-resolution of issues raised over four years ago and the daily deterioration of the situation on the ground. 

Wildlife and safari areas continue to be administered by the government and foreign (mostly American) hunters have not been deterred by the political upheaval in the same way that other tourists have, the parks management authorities report that hunting revenues have remained fairly consistent over the last few years with Z$60 billion being realized in the 2005 hunting season [24]. 

Working under a totalitarian regime

This section lists some of the more pressing problems of day-to-day life in Zimbabwe, where survival comes first, and conservation slips to the bottom of the priority list. 

(1) Keeping Your Mouth Shut – It is increasingly difficult to find out very basic information in Zimbabwe because most people are too scared to speak on the record for fear of reprisals from the government [1]. One of the best survival strategies in Zimbabwe is simply not to draw any attention to oneself because any voice of dissent is simply crushed. For example: 4,000 commercial farmers had their land confiscated [98], 750,000 urban dwellers were bulldozed out of their homes [99], opposition party members are routinely arrested detained and tortured [100], and constituencies that vote the wrong way are denied food aid [101]. The one thing they all had in common was voicing dissent towards Zanu PF. The lesson learned here is that if you can’t sing praises about the government; just keep your mouth shut.

(2) Fuel and Energy Crisis – It is extremely difficult to get anything done in a country without fuel. Zimbabwe has endured a 5-year long fuel crisis [102] that began right about the time the government decided to flush the economy down the drain. This will inevitably have negative consequences for wildlife, as it is almost impossible to perform the simplest duties or to keep regular patrol routes, research sampling, water pumps or tour vehicles running [103]. Ironically, the situation does present some potentially positive benefits as the government is apparently embarking on a series of very imaginative alternative fuel schemes such as bio-diesel [33], biogas [32], ethanol [30], and methane [31], but lacks the expertise and financial resources to seriously develop any of them.

(3) Corruption – Zimbabwe ranks 114th out of 146 countries surveyed in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index [104]. The country’s descent into the current corruption vortex began long before its accelerated land reform program but slipped markedly after the year 2000 and has become a system with a rampant disregard for ethics [104]. This translates indirectly and directly to environmental issues, but we’ll list a few recent allegations to give a fairly superficial glimpse of how corrupt practices may affect the environment: 

- The tender process around the Kunzvi Dam being built by the Chinese was very shady [63]. 

- Game wardens have been selling the water pumps donated to National parks by conservation groups [5]. 

- Vitalis Chadenga, the operations director Parks and Wildlife Management Authority was suspended following investigations into the theft and translocation of live game and the improper issuing of permits then re-instated due to a ‘lack of evidence’. 

- Some game conservancies were confiscated and distributed to favoured, politically connected individuals [77, 106]. 

- Mugabe has been granted logging rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo in exchange for troops [107]. 

(4) Hyperinflation – The term sounds so quaint, yet it has incalculable consequences for a country in which inflation rates sometimes exceed 600% [108]. Daily existence becomes virtually impossible as savings and salaries erode daily, virtually forcing people into illegal activities and/or subsistence farming simply to survive. Apart from these fairly self-evident problems, there are also more subtle repercussions because the Zimbabwean government does what it does best and simply denies that inflation exists. Thus fines for environmental crimes, prices for boat licenses and entry to national parks become out-dated within hours of being revised. Foreign tourists, however, can’t take advantage of this phenomenon because they’ve been required to pay for most things in foreign currency for a number of years now. Another annoying aspect of hyperinflation for Zimbabwe-watchers is that the Zimbabwe dollar is now a meaningless economic indicator and Zimbabwean journalists simply can’t be weaned off them. For example, hunting revenues generated Z$ 60 billion in 2005 [24] – this really means very little unless you have a written record of the black-market exchange rates for that particular date, and the whole purpose of the black-market is it’s informal nature, which brings us to the next point.

(5) Lack of Foreign Currency – foreign exchange rules vary enormously depending on who you are. For example, on October 18, 2005 an NGO, tobacco farmer or tourist exchanging money at a bank could get just Z$824 for each US$; a businessman needing foreign currency for a business trip could with some luck and political connections buy one US$ for Z$26,000 through an auction system run by the Reserve bank; important ministers that get to buy foreign currency at Z$26,000 to one have been known to sell it at much higher black-market rates – the most recent report is Z$ 70,000 for each US$ [109]. Thus, the Zimbabwean dollar has thus ceased to be a meaningful economic indicator yet the government strictly enforces its continued use, making life rather difficult and traumatic for any businesses, NGO’s and tourist outfits in Zimbabwe that deal in foreign currency, because they basically have to operate illegally if they want to continue to exist. 

(6) Brain Drain – Between 3 and 4.5 million Zimbabweans are estimated to be living abroad, primarily in South Africa, Botswana and Britain [110, 111]. The reasons for this exodus have been: 70% unemployment [112], poor salaries, concerns for personal safety, poor exchange rates, bleak future prospects for one’s children and a straightforward lack of professional opportunities. A survey of half a million professionals in the Zimbabwean diaspora indicated that most of them had university degrees and 25% had Masters or PhD level degrees. The conservation and wildlife management industry has lost a significant number of the important researchers and conservationists that founded the excellent research and management systems [87]. These highly valued skills are very transferable within Africa and abroad and Zimbabwean conservationists have taken advantage of this fact, many of them now continue their work in far-flung reaches of the globe.

(7) Education – The expansion of the education sector in Zimbabwe since 1980 has often been characterised as one of the major achievements of the post-independence government. In 1979 about 800,000 children attended primary school while almost 2.3 million attended in 1989. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe’s once excellent education system is under siege mostly due to the economic crisis and the government’s prohibition of increasing school fees, despite hyperinflation [24]. Under the current economic scenario, schools may continue to operate, but simply cannot provide the services that a school should be providing. The government also actively meddles in the affairs of private educational institutions, trying to set them on the same ruinous path as their government-run counterparts. Environmental education components are usually taught in schools as part of the geography and the biology syllabi, but environmental NGO’s have a long and accomplished history of spearheading efforts to get environmental messages out to students (See Appendix 2). The need for these supplementary teaching activities has never been greater and the NGO’s continue to do good work, but many of them have real viability concerns and are trying desperately to stay afloat in these turbulent circumstances with severely demoralized staff.

(8) Wilful ignorance – There have been an increasingly worrying barrage of ludicrous statements coming from the government over the last five years. Take this quote from the Zanu PF homepage. It explains why destroying one’s natural heritage is an every day part and parcel of progress… 

“When God created heaven and earth, and gave to each race its own corner of the land to inhabit, He did not allow others to destroy their own share of heritage so that they could move over and claim the shares of others. In England He created the Bear, Hedgehog, Fox, Unicorn and many others for the Barbarian, Anglo-Saxon, Scottish, Welsh and Irish to feast on with their eyes and quench their appetites.” [113]. 

Another clanger comes from the state-owned newspaper widely seen as the government’s mouthpiece the Herald who claim that the US and the UK were causing a drought in Zimbabwe with cyber climate nano-technology 

“Those countries that submit to the caprices of the westerners automatically receive the seal of approval as “democratic” nations which qualifies them to get massive aid support and debt cancellation. With Zimbabwe fast emerging as the possible epicentre of the furtive weather modification programme that is meant to break its agricultural backbone; the world could be entering a new phase of cyber imperialism.” [114]

Clearly the Zimbabwean government cannot be held responsible for the paranoia of a Zimbabwean journalist who reads American conspiracy theory blogs and treats them as legitimate news sources, however, these sorts of paranoid outbursts are routinely spouted by Mugabe and his ministers in non-conservation related arenas. 

One thing that Mugabe’s ministers have been very effectively communicating is that the economic crisis is due to drought, rather than land reform—even though the government’s own rainfall records over the last 5 years indicate fairly unremarkable deviations from the rainfall norm since 1999 [115]. A key problem frustrating Zimbabwean researchers is that crucial statistics such as rainfall figures, food production figures and election results can be directly or indirectly concocted by the President’s office and any figures coming from government departments should be interpreted very cautiously. One can learn from Stalin’s Russia and Mao Zedong’s great leap forward, that such delusional dictators inevitably place their countries of courses that have catastrophic environmental and humanitarian consequences and they can only recover when those errant leaders are removed from power.

(9) Tourism Industry as a Whole – According to the World Tourism Council, tourism has the potential to contribute up to12% of Zimbabwe’s GDP [116]. In 2001, tourism was worth 6% of the GDP [117] but declined to just 2% of the GDP in 2004 [116]. Zimbabwe’s tourist industry is inextricably linked with its rich wildlife heritage, which is the main attraction to a relatively high-end tourist market [59]. Revenues generated from wildlife tourism have been very important, providing significant economic incentives to conserve wildlife and once provided job security for 200,000 people in rural backwaters of Zimbabwe [117].

Significant declines in overseas tourist arrivals (Fig 5) have led to the demise of many tourism operations, loss of jobs and hotels and Safari companies are barely surviving from year to year with reduced occupancy rates and skeleton staff. Sensible tourists can still enjoy a remarkably inexpensive, and safe holiday, and see Zimbabwe’s spectacular wildlife [118], but it is now perceived as a dangerous off the beaten path destination for adventurous tourists. 

The Government attributes the drop in tourism to the following factors: 

- Continued negative publicity overseas and lack of money to counter the negative publicity. 

- Decline in travellers going to long-haul destinations due to the September 11 attack in America and continued terrorism threats.

- Lack of direct flights from major markets. 

The real reasons for the continued decline in tourists visiting Zimbabwe are likely to be due to the following: 

- Travel warnings issued by the US Department of State [26]. 

- Concern over the political instability and lack of rule of law associated with land seizures [119]. 

- Risk of being confused with illegally operating, under-cover journalists [4].

- Fear of election violence during election periods [60]. 

- Chronic fuel shortages [53]. 

- Reports of tourists being harassed by war veterans [117]. 

- Reports of tourists being killed in robbery incidents [120]. 

- Reports of government-sanctioned hunting in game reserves [5]. 

- A wide choice of safer destinations offering similar tourism experiences [121].

- Tourists also have mixed feelings about visiting the “Outpost of Tyranny” [122], and an online survey by ZimConservation revealed that about half of all people surveyed (47%) felt it would be ethical to visit Zimbabwe in it’s current state, but the other half felt that it was either unethical (33%), or did not know (19%) [123]. 

The reserve bank is also worried about the decline in tourism receipts, but maintains that hotels are fixing their books to reflect low occupancy rates so that they can dodge taxes and sell their foreign currency earnings at high black market rates [124] (Fig 6). The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority suggests a different reason: “Though the figure for those who were in Zimbabwe for holiday and business is quite high, the majority of them, about 69%, were staying with their friends and relatives as evidenced by the low bed occupancy rates in hotels and lodges [26-31% in 2004 compared to 61% in 1999] in Zimbabwe.” [125]. The logical deduction from this is that most of Zimbabwe’s current tourism market is made up of exiled Zimbabweans coming home for the holidays. Even though 2005 figures are not yet available, initial trends indicate that a decline in tourism receipts of 8% is anticipated since the previous year [92], despite Miss World contest that was supposedly going to rescue Zimbabwe’s tourism industry [126]. Another much-touted rescue package is the government’s “look east policy”, but a cursory examination of the numbers shows that Asian arrivals have increased markedly, but the total numbers remain insignificant (Fig 5). Tour operators have also been complaining that the Asian’s are demanding (and getting) rates at roughly half the rate that a European client would pay [116]. Regional travellers came to Zimbabwe for many reasons other than tourism and the data should be interpreted cautiously, for example the huge spike in Zambian visitors 2001-2002 is because Zambians would come in to Zimbabwe to fill up their fuel tanks paying for it with cheap Zimbabwean dollars bought on the black market, then go home and sell the fuel for US dollars at a huge profit.

(10) Hunting – Apparently the numbers of hunts authorized in safari areas has remained fairly consistent in recent years and in 2003 hunting generated US$24 million earned mostly from American hunters, including a United States Senator [127]. Mr. Charles Jonga of CAMPFIRE is on record saying that “There has been a few cancellations but they have not really made a significant negative impact on the hunting sector” [84]. And a brief look at the African Hunter web forum indicates that on the whole hunters felt that Zimbabwe remained a top-quality hunting destination with good guides, good infrastructure and very inexpensive trophies [128]. However, the revenues declared by safari operators declined from $24 million to US$13 million in one year prompting a back-lash from the reserve bank [129]. It is also worth noting here that any trophies hunted on former commercial farms have apparently been denied importation permits back to the US because the US Fish and Wildlife Service regards them as stolen property [130].

(11) HIV- It is estimated that 1 in 5 Zimbabweans is HIV positive – this is an epidemic that will lead to rapid demographic changes over the next 10 years [131]. Life expectancy has dropped from 56 years in 1975 to just 33 years [132]. The high mortality rate amongst the sexually active population aside from creating a hugely unbalanced dependency ratio and associated social problems, it is also leading to an acute loss of skilled wildlife managers in the National parks system.

(12) Lack of Research – there is a growing gap in research programs in Zimbabwe – conservation groups that have excellent baseline data have lost local skills through the brain-drain and many foreign-based researchers have abandoned their Zimbabwe projects, taking their funding elsewhere. As whole areas of the country have become no-go areas and the government has outlawed foreign reporters and cracked down on foreign NGO activity it is impossible to actually calculate the losses of wildlife given the situation on the ground, but some reports estimate 50-80% loss in large game from some areas [15]. The government’s monopoly over the media and grip on power depend on massaging wars, lack of facts, lack of synthesis, lack of vision and fear, they seem to have very effectively undermined any attempts to systematically take stock of the Zimbabwe situation since 2000 leaving Zimbabwe flailing like a rudderless ship in stormy seas.

Recommendations

(1) Recommendations to foreign governments and agencies

- Support and encourage access to information and the independent media by conservation professionals as well as attendance of conservation meetings, conferences and other communication forums. This will serve as an important morale-building tool.

- Support the prioritisation of conservation needs and actions and develop a vision for the future by bringing together the Zimbabwean Conservation Professional Diaspora, remaining local professionals and regional experts. Some obvious priorities would be wildlife monitoring and inventories as well as comparative land-use studies in the context of the land reform program to take stock of what has been lost and lessons learned. There is a risk that if this step is not taken, when investment returns, foreign consultants without on-the ground experience may not fully comprehend or understand the context of the hard lessons learned over the last 10 years. 

- Avoid directly funding government departments at any meaningful level unless they have a proven track record that withstands rigorous third-party evaluation. Some individuals within government institutions have proven track records of delivering results with comparatively high levels of transparency and an ability to operate within the constraints of the existing system, but are among the minority.

- Don’t antagonize the government, in the prevailing climate one cannot risk pitting politicians against wildlife. Conservationists and ecologists working in the country should focus on finding imaginative solutions to active, hands-on wildlife management and should continue use field-gathered information to inform policy. Encourage strategic hands-on actions in combination with a low profile, consistent and professional image.

- Actively praise and recognize positive actions and innovations developed by the remaining conservation-related organizations on the ground to build morale and to recognise the heroic extent of their continued actions even under these extremely adverse circumstances.

- Start small flexible grant-programs to Zimbabwean conservation NGO’s encourage them to stay abreast of the changing rules and to cooperate and collaborate with government personnel wherever possible. Provide opportunities and further training to the newly qualified Zimbabwean wildlife ecologists and wildlife management personnel. Provide funding and career opportunities to existing wildlife management professionals in their capacity as individuals accompanied by with reasonable financial allowances that will allow them to meet their responsibilities to their families in an hyper-inflationary environment. Education to fill knowledge gaps will be essential and publication of conservation field guides and management guides in local languages and providing access to information would be invaluable.

- Don’t discourage tourists, they are eyes and ears of the world and provide a limited but important revenue stream for knowledgeable game guides and tourist resorts. Tourists and their foreign currency provide the government with an important incentive to continue running National Parks. Small revenue streams that keep these parks running are essential to maintain existing infrastructure, so that recovery would be a less painful process when the political scene changes. Tourists should have access to balanced information about the risks and benefits of travel to Zimbabwe so that they can make an informed decision about travelling there.

(2) Recommendations to local conservation NGOs

- Continue to explore and implement, wherever possible, pragmatic solutions to the new conservation problems arising in the volatile political landscape using adaptive management principles and seek new revenue streams from wildlife and conservation. 

- Forge local alliances and communicate lessons-learned through local forums and coordinate actions so that they compliment each other in different areas to achieve maximum environmental benefit. 

- Establish close contact with multi-laterals and international organisations and communicate your needs with carefully researched, systematic messaging. Use teamwork and alliances to communicate realistic goals and objectives that can be evaluated in short time frames to foreign donors. 

- Identify and prioritise the environmental problems under the current regime and design conservation interventions that tackle them directly.

- Maintain relationships with reform-minded government officials and communicate the importance of environmental sustainability and the potential of sound wildlife management principles to as a part of a long-term solution to Zimbabwe’s current economic crisis.

- Keep detailed records of past and present wildlife populations, threats, and individuals who flout the law (ZimConservation is happy to assist in any way to maintain a transparent, web-based and accessible record for the future and to accept confidential reports).

(3) Recommendations to the Zimbabwean government

- Work to strengthen democratic institutions such as freedom of speech, independent media, independent judiciary, free and fair elections, protection of minority rights, impartial security forces, increased political competition, respect for civil and political freedoms and progressive implementation of greater equality.

- Resolve and land-tenure disputes in a fair, professional and legally sound manner and work to secure private property rights and title deeds for those living in communally owned lands. Establish a land-reform policy that promotes sustainable use of the environment and ownership of wildlife.

- Facilitate the visits of international researchers, NGO’s and multilateral institutions on condition that they share their findings to relevant government departments. Evaluate the reports carefully both on methodology and findings be prepared to implement recommendations that will secure the nation’s wildlife heritage for future generations of Zimbabweans and encourage transfer of skills to build depleted local capacity.

- Work in co-operation with neighbouring Southern African nations on transboundary conservation initiatives and take extraordinary measures to ensure sustainable management of the wildlife and activities of people in these areas. Immediately take steps resolve long-standing issues such as the illegal settlements in Gonarezhou, and illegal land occupations in conservancies on the border of these parks. 

- Increase funding to wildlife management and protection departments so that they have the funds and equipment to perform their duties effectively and increase real salaries in order to reduce the brain drain to neighbouring countries.

- Reduce the population pressure in rural areas by providing incentives and opportunities that encourage rural-urban migration.

- Allow foreign and local journalists free access to rural areas and National parks, encourage them to investigate and report on their travel experiences in their home newspapers to encourage foreign tourists to visit Zimbabwe.

- Implement constitutional reforms that protect the wildlife, environment and biodiversity found in Zimbabwe.

(4) Recommendations to Zimbabwean opposition parties

- Seek to de-politicise wildlife conservation issues we cannot afford to pit the government against the wildlife, wildlife is a valuable natural heritage for all Zimbabweans, and this is something all parties should agree on.

- Consult with locally-based professionals and stakeholders to form a comprehensive wildlife policy and recovery plan, then use it as part of the election platform this is an important issue to all Zimbabweans and they deserve to know how the party they are voting for will act in the interests of Zimbabwe’s natural resources and wildlife heritage. In order to complete this plan, a comprehensive investigation of the current wildlife crisis should be conducted.

- The shadow minister for environment and tourism should convene conservation meetings and conferences to promote internal communications and dialogue among conservation groups as a non-conservation professional the shadow minister should be actively educating himself on wildlife and conservation issues so that he can be well-versed to take up the reigns should the opposition party win power.

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