Hi again,
Herewith, some snippets from various sources.
I appeal to you to send me items to distribute to our members for both the
Cleft Stick and to be posted on the web site. It is your magazine and
website, so ensure it gets the news that you would like to see in it.
Please let me have any changes to your physical address, phone no. or e-mail
address to keep the database up to date.
Thanks to all of you who have made the effort. Please will any of you who
know of members who do not get this “electric” Cleft~Stick, & have access to
e-mail, pass their address along to me.
Don Yunnie
7 Chalet Drive, Hilton, 3245, South Africa Local Tel & Fax (033) 343 1534 Int. Tel & Fax (+2733) 343 1534 cell 082 377 7562 E-mail dyunnie@xsinet.co.za.
If you do not wish to receive this e-mail newsletter please send a blank e-mail to me at the above address with the word “unsubscribe C~S ” as the message heading.
Ugalla Game Reserve
Just back from the bush been a busy year hence lack of correspondence from me. Please find attached report on Ugalla Game Reserve.
It is a true beauty and should be a National Park. I've got one more trip this year then should be back in Arusha for month or so and will then rally together all those interested in joining the GRAA.
Will also find time to write about some of the other areas we have up here.
Cheers
Keith Roberts
Fried in Conservation Fund
Arusha, Tanzania
Ugalla Game Reserve- Tanzania
This is a truly beautiful area often likened to the Okavango Delta.
It is located in central-western Tanzania a good 6 hours drive from Tabora and 2 days drive from Arusha where I’m based. It is 4690 km sq and on the NE boundary are a couple of refugee camps with Burundians. Poaching is high and quite difficult to control since there are a number of legal fishing and honey camps scattered through the reserve. Permits are issued by the Game Department allowing fishermen and honey gatherers access. Once in the reserve it is very easy to snare or shoot game and an added problem is they use the same paths as the poachers so makes tracking difficult. We have one anti-poaching team in the reserve and they do quite a good job considering there are only 5 of them. When I was down there recently I got my Mobile Team which is 12 strong and predominately Masai to join me. On the way in I had a meeting with the Project Manger and he further strengthened our numbers with 5 Game Scouts and his No 2. A sizable force like that had never been seen in Ugalla.
Poaching is mainly timber ( pterocarpus sp) and meat. We concentrated on the timber first and managed to close down a whole timber ring. Later this was to cause us problems when 2 of my vehicles passed through the village where
the poachers had come from resulting in the vehicles being stoned and a
very angry crowd trying to block the vehicles in. One can understand their frustrations as basically we had removed the villages only means of earning cash. Meetings with the village elders have been ongoing and we are looking at various options for Community Development.
These villages are really remote and they have been harvesting timber for years except that now the only hard wood trees are within the Game Reserve.
Ugalla is a very flat area and is divided in to two by the Ugalla river
which during the rains floods extensively. During the dry season(at
present) it dries up forming hugh pools which are crowded with hippo, croc and many waterbirds. Surrounding the extensive flood plains are open Miombo forests which spread to the boundaries. It is in these Miombo forests that the timber poachers operate more often than not along side the ever present tsetse fly.
The game concentrations are excellent and diverse ie Sable, Roan, Eland, Kudu, Topi, big herds of buffalo, Lion , Cheetah, Wild Dog, Dikdik, and many more.
Birdlife is excellent and I’m glad to be able to report healthy
populations of Shoebills and Wattled Cranes. Ground Hornbills are abundant and I had excellent sightings of them nesting on the top of broken Borassa,s Palms.
Ugalla has extensive Borrassa Palm plantations in the west and it was to this area that we moved to next. The poachers down here target mainly hippo, shooting them at night with torches that have been modified to take 8 D-cell batteries. They wait until the hippo are well away from the water and then shoot them using muzzleloaders firing short pieces of reinforcing rod. Very effective judging by the number of hugh smoking racks we found in the area. The meat is then taken out by bicycles to the local markets. Very organized and effienct. We had a successful time down there and put a dampener on the poachers operations. Even though the operations were a success we would fool ourselves to think we have stopped the poaching.
Compared to other areas in Tanzania, yes we are arresting a lot of poachers, but for such a large area with so few rangers on the ground we can only but try and have an effect. Our rangers and the Game Scouts from the Game Department are doing an excellent job and the two groups have bonded well.
the Dugong Issue
The following are a series of emails received as a result of C~S 18 05 article on Mozambique’s dugongs
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 1:08 PM
Subject: Cleft Stick comments
Dear Paul
I take great exception to your note in the recent Cleft Stick (copied below) re Moc and dugongs. As you are well aware, you did not even have the decency to call or email me but instead sent a rude comment to Lylie, which she then forwarded to me. As I subsequently communicated to you, I do not understand your antagonistic and confrontational approach, and whatever your issue with WWF (Moc)/Helena Motta, that’s your problem. Kindly do not now suggest I was ‘conned’ by them - again, as I told you, I did not meet with WWF(Moc), nor did I discuss the dugong project or status with anyone – the facts are thus very different to the way you have put it. You have deliberately
mis-represented those facts, for reasons known only to yourself. The
arrogance of your note that you ‘took me to task’ is disgraceful and I would appreciate an apology published in Cleft Stick which also corrects the misrepresentation.
“I recently took EWT's director Dr Nick King to task after his recent visit to Mozambique where he was conned by WWF(Moz) that the Dugongs "were doing well " He did eventually acknowledge that he was none too au fait with the situation en situ.”
Dr Nick King
Executive Director
Endangered Wildlife Trust
Subject: Re: Cleft Stick comments
Dear Nick
I got the impression from your last communiqué some time ago that you were in fact not too au fait with the WWF/FNP politics or status of the Dugong.
All I can say now is please go up to Bazaruto National Park and include
contact with the traditional people (Lourenco Zivane, Castigo Zivane et al) with whom I worked 1989 to 1994 for their take on the current situation.
Also contact cetacean specialist Dr Almeida Guissamela from the Museum in Maputo whose air counts conform with mine that the population was less than 30 in 2003. From reports I receive from time to time like recently a dead cow and calf being found on sale at the Vilankulo market distresses all the more for the future of this flag ship species numbering at least 180 and widely distributed in 1992. But what is your real concern (a) that my counts starting 1990 (with Vic Cockroft and Almeida G) until 2003 are thumbsucks or (b) that I have some ulterior motive for questioning the scientific bone fides of Motta and Reina?
How about rather than "took me to task" I had said "questioning Dr Nick King's observations on the status of the Bazaruto National Parks Dugong populations" as an apology?
Paul Dutton, MSc
Subject: RE: Cleft Stick comments
Dear Paul
Thank you for your prompt response and offer of an apology. However, you seem to still have the wrong end of the stick somehow – I did not make any observations on the BNPs dugong populations, so how can you ‘question’ such? As I am now tired of telling you, I did not visit BNP, I did not meet with WWF Moc and I did not discuss dugongs. Lylie Musgrave, who knew I was visiting Moc after my visit to Durban where she attended my talk, simply asked me how the trip had been and whether I had any insights to the status of dugongs in Moc as a whole, to which I replied that I did not, but as far as I was aware (the topic not having been raised as the trip focussed on FNP ’s community conservation programmes in S. Moc) they were being addressed under the broader marine conservation programmes underway in Moc. This seems
to be the point you had a problem with, but as I subsequently wrote to you, I agreed with your observations, as based on the data you sent me, that a population of less than 100 (or 1000 for that matter!) still facing various threats, could not be considered ‘safe’ in any way. I have no plans to visit Moc in the near future, nor the BNP, nor have I questioned your data in any way, thus I am still at a loss as to why you seem to think I have ‘opposed’ your views on the BNP dugong status in some way and that I must now go and have these ‘corrected’ by visiting the BNP.
Nick
Hi Tim (Snow)
Thanks for the option to ‘respond’ in Cleft Stick. I don’t believe it is necessary for me to do so – the onus is on Paul to behave professionally and apologise. His apology needs to take the form that his previous note was a deliberate misrepresentation for his own reasons, and that contrary to his claims I had not offered an opinion on the status of the dugongs, nor had I had any discussions with WWF Mocambique during my trip etc and thus could not be ‘conned’ in this regard.
If you have not received such an apology by the time of next going to print, then kindly print this email as my response.
Regards
Nick
PS. Once we have a Marine and Coastal WG manager in position, Moc will be an area of focus and we’ll certainly be following up on things!
Subject: Re: Cleft Stick comments
Hi Tim
Sorry about my non response to Nick King's last e-mail. Too busy. I believe that it is EWT's responsibility to investigate for itself the actual situation of the Dugong because of the support that EWT gave to the formation the Bazaruto Archipelago as a national Park from 1989 to 2004 when John Ledger was director. WWF(Moz)/FNP need to be exposed. I've tried to no avail.
Regards
Paul
The following are my concluding remarks to Paul: (Tim Snow)
I cannot argue that the status of the Bazaruto dugings is critical. Based on that alone, my personal standpoint and, I believe, that of the GRAA, should be to work with everyone to save the species at all costs.
That should not be debatable.
But I do believe that we should all be working together to achieve this, whoever we are wherever we stand on the continuum of conservationists.
In-fighting is counter productive.
If there are people who are abusing or even embezzling funds; and you have proof that this is so; then of course they should be exposed and prosecuted.
Regards
Tim
New Wild Coast National Park
Statement by the Office of Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of
Environmental Affairs & Tourism, on 22 November 2005 - Minister and Premier
Hold Consultations on New Wild Coast National Park
Date: 2005-11-22
"Frank, necessary, and very constructive." This was how Marthinus van
Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, described a series of meetings and consultations held on Tuesday with traditional leaders, local political authorities, and community representatives in the Wild Coast region of the Eastern Cape.
Minister Van Schalkwyk, Premier Nosimo Balindlela, and the Eastern Cape MEC for Economic Affairs, Environment, and Tourism, André de Wet, were joined by senior managers of the national and provincial departments in the first public consultations about plans for the establishment of a new Wild Coast National Park.
Announced by the Minister and Premier, following the decision in August by the Provincial Cabinet to support the creation of the park, the
meetings were arranged to inform local communities and authorities about the plans, and to request their support for the process.
"The National Cabinet has identified the Wild Coast region as a priority for development, both because of the poverty and the eco-tourism potential of the area," said Minister Van Schalkwyk. "This means that not only will significant financial resources be invested in developing the region, but also that we will act to create an environment and infrastructure to attract and unlock private sector investment as well. The Wild Coast National Park will be the centre-piece of the efforts of our departments to bring positive change to the communities of Pondoland and the wider Eastern Cape."
"Few areas in the world have biological and geographical riches that can compare with our Wild Coast," said the Premier. "This process is designed to help us protect these assets and at the same time to leverage from them the growth, investment, and local empowerment so badly needed by our people. The new National Park will be a concrete demonstration of how conservation, social upliftment, and tourism are best achieved together."
The first phase of the new park will include the Pondoland Marine Protected Area (representing about 130 000 hectares); the 1km wide coastal strip (about 10 000 hectares); the Mkhambati Nature Reserve (about 3 200 hectares); and the state forests north of Port St. Johns (about 20 000 hectares) * brining a total of more than 163 200 hectares into the park.
"Developing the Wild Coast to its full potential requires a fully integrated approach," said Minister Van Schalkwyk. "In addition to the new National Park we have also recently seen the successful conclusion of the Wild Coast Conservation and Development Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility and the Development Bank of Southern Africa * the outcomes of which include a Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, a Land Use Plan, and the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Wild Coast, which will soon be handed over to Government."
The Minister also recommitted substantial funding from the Department's social responsibility programme to help create temporary jobs and training opportunities in the region. "Projects to the value of R94 million are already being implemented and projects valued at a further R83 million have been identified for implementation over the next three years," he said.
"Through these programmes we aim to generate more than 806 000 job days of employment."
Following the conclusion of the community consultations, the next steps in the creation of the park will include a community capacitation workshop to be conducted early in the new year, which will be followed by the formal declaration of a National Protected Area, and the further development of marketing and tourism infrastructure to further unlock the growth potential of the new park.
Enquiries: JP Louw
Cell: 082-569-3340.
Final Draft , Report to the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism,
Panel of Experts on Professional and Recreational Hunting in South Africa
25 October 2005
Executive Summary
1. Introduction
The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, appointed a Panel of Experts to draft norms and standards for the hunting industry in June 2005. Individuals were appointed on the basis of their expertise in a range of areas that affect and are affected by the hunting industry including wildlife management, community involvement, transformation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use.
The Panel was tasked to provide advice to the Minister on norms and
standards for the hunting industry. This advice was to be informed by public inputs and submissions, and research commissioned to look into specific areas. Two public hearings were held. The first was to receive submissions from registered interested and affected parties and the second was to present the findings of the research papers. Forty-one written submissions were received and 28 oral submissions were heard on 11th and 12th August 2005. Four research papers were commissioned by the Panel, investigating the status quo of the hunting industry, the regulation of the industry, its conservation impacts and international best practice.
This executive summary provides an overview of the Panel’s recommendations, the detailed analysis and motivation for which are to be found in the body of the report.
The Panel has made its recommendations within the context of the principles and framework set out in the South African Constitution, the body of laws regulating biodiversity in South Africa, and international agreements to which South Africa is a signatory. The Panel has also been guided in its assessment of each issue placed before it by three broad sets of principles.
The first set of principles relates to the sustainable use of wildlife,
which seeks to ensure that any practices associated with hunting do not
compromise the long-term survival and viability of a particular species or ecosystem. This is essential to preserve the natural resource base on which the hunting industry depends.
The second principle relates to the humane treatment of animals, as set out in the Animal Protection Act, and whether the outcome of any practice that affects a wild animal, planned or not, is considered an offence in terms of the Animal Protection Act.
A third principle relates to ethical hunting and in particular, the principle of fair chase, which is the foundation of the professional hunting industry. While this is not necessarily a matter of national regulatory concern, adherence to the principle of fair chase is
important for the integrity and standing of the industry.
2. Recommendations
Intensive versus extensive production systems There are considerable differences between extensive and intensive wildlife production systems. An extensive system contains largely self sustaining
indigenous wildlife populations on natural habitats with minimum human
intervention. Intensive systems, on the other hand, are reliant on human intervention, and are considered as agricultural production systems. The role of hunting differs accordingly. In the former, the hunting industry has created the basis for many livestock production units to convert to extensive wildlife production, and hunting is both a revenue-earner and a tool to support conservation management objectives. As a result of the economic opportunities presented by potential trophy animals, the Panel has found that there is a tendency for these economic objectives to override the conservation management objectives.
The Panel therefore recommends that each extensive wildlife production units be managed according to scientifically-based management plans that are set out in terms of conservation management objectives and off-take of species for hunting purposes be in accordance with these.
The Panel further recommends that nationally uniform guidelines on the format and methodology for these management plans be drawn up for the provinces to distribute to the owners of the extensive wildlife production units.
In terms of intensive wildlife production units, the Panel found that
hunting does not support any conservation objectives. Furthermore, the
hunting of animals in or originating from intensive wildlife productions systems, as well as the supply of these animals to other wildlife units for the purposes of hunting, is, in general, not compatible with the principle of fair chase. For the purposes of protecting the integrity of the hunting profession, and the reputation of the country in this regard, hunting should not be permitted within intensive production systems. Where animals that have been intensively bred but not genetically manipulated become self-sustaining on extensive wildlife production systems, their hunting can be allowed once they are self-sustaining. Furthermore, since intensive
production wildlife production is a form of agricultural production, the standards and legislation that apply to livestock production should apply to it. In particular, the requirements of the Meat Safety Act and Animal Protection Act would be applicable when considering the handling of meat, slaughtering methods, and hygienic facilities required to ensure the prevention of the occurrence or spread of disease.
The research commissioned by the panel, furthermore, highlighted serious biodiversity impacts arising from the transfer of animals from intensive to extensive wildlife production systems. There is overwhelming evidence that selective breeding of animals for trophy hunting, genetic manipulation, import of alien species and introduction of animals outside their natural ranges, amongst others, is having a profoundly negative impact on the long term integrity of South Africa’s biodiversity and the viability of ecosystems. The Panel has therefore recommended that the transfer of animals from intensive to extensive wildlife production systems should only be permitted for conservation purposes, on the basis of proper scientific research, and only if certain risks (such as disease transmission, genetic mixing and release of inferior specimens) are not present.
Captive-bred animals
The principle of fair chase is not compatible with the hunting of
captive-bred animals unless they have become self-sustaining on extensive wildlife production units. In general, the practice of hunting captive bred animals should be disallowed. This will have serious implications for the many captive breeding facilities that currently service the hunting industry. Some captive breeding facilities may be able to remain commercially viable as intensive systems servicing the biltong and game products markets provided that they comply with the requirements of the Meat Safety Act. The Panel recommends that strict and clear criteria and standards be developed in permitting the continuation or establishment of captive breeding facilities that purport to support biodiversity conservation through the provision of scientific services and endangered species support.
Moreover, the Panel advocates that these facilities be
required to establish and improve their record-keeping by way of nationally uniform minimum standards studbooks and DNA fingerprinting.
Import, translocation and genetic manipulation of wildlife
The potential biodiversity impact arising from the import of alien species, the translocation of indigenous species to areas outside their normal regions of occurrence and the genetic manipulation of species and subspecies, are matters of serious concern.
In terms of the import of alien species for the sole purposes of hunting, the Panel recommends that the Minister place a ban on the import of all alien species for hunting purposes.
In terms of the translocation of indigenous species, the Panel recommends the prohibition of the translocation of species outside their range zones.
Strategies should also be considered to contain the spread of indigenous species currently living beyond their natural ecological historical range zone.
Breeding practices that involve the genetic manipulation of species and
subspecies that are released into extensive wildlife production systems for hunting purposes are not consistent with the country’s biodiversity
conservation objectives. Unfortunately, this has already had a serious
impact on many extensive systems. Steps must be taken urgently to prevent the spread of such animals to new areas. The Panel also recommends that the hunting of genetically manipulated animals in the extensive systems where they occur is phased out.
Gamebird Hunting
The Panel established that gamebird hunting is a unique form of hunting that has the potential to develop into a lucrative trophy hunting sport but that it needs to be regulated differently from mammalian hunting due to the substantial differences between the two forms of hunting.
It should be regulated by the agricultural sector unless there are conservation or biodiversity implications, especially where the hunted bird is a rare or threatened species. Under these circumstances, an additional permit is required from the relevant provincial conservation authority. The report contains further recommendations on how permitting should be done.
Put-and-take and canned hunting
The Panel recommends that both these practices should be prohibited as they compromise the principle of fair chase and the humane treatment of animals.
Furthermore, “put-and-take” also poses threats to biodiversity conservation given the risks such as disease transmission, genetic mixing and release of inferior specimens in moving an animal from an intensive to an extensive wildlife production system for the purposes of hunting.
Bow hunting
The Panel recommends that national guidelines be established, which can then be adopted by the provinces so that there is a uniform approach to bow hunting. The report contains an overview of issues that guidelines should address.
“Green” hunting
In terms of “green” hunting, the repeated darting of an animal for
commercial purposes is considered an inhumane practice. There needs to be a clear distinction between, and separation of, darting for scientific and management purposes, and the practice of hunting for commercial gain. The report provides parameters for acceptable darting practices and recommends that uniform guidelines be developed which can be implemented at provincial level.
Other hunting methods
In terms of hunting with dogs, the use of dogs for tracking and retrieval of a hunted (dead or wounded) animal is considered an acceptable practice.
Hunting by means of packs of dogs is considered an inhumane practice and should be prohibited. Prohibitions on any other methods that are also in contravention of the principle of humane treatment of wild animals are recommended. This includes canned hunting and the use of traps, snares and poison. Furthermore, methods such as bright lights, luring sounds, the use of bait and hunting from vehicles are believed to compromise the principle of fair chase.
Hunting in protected areas
The system of national and provincial parks in South Africa accords the
highest level of conservation to areas of unique biodiversity significance.
These parks are mostly on publicly owned land, although the Protected Areas Act does provide for the incorporation of privately owned land into such parks on a contractual basis. The national and provincial parks systems are important not only for biodiversity conservation – they also provide a unique experience for the persons visiting them, and there is “sense of place” and an experience of nature that should be protected in these areas.
The Panel is of the view that commercial hunting practices should be
prohibited on publicly owned land in national and provincial parks (this includes special nature reserves, national parks and nature reserves as per the Protected Areas Act definitions).
The Panel acknowledges that there is a need to manage population numbers in these reserves and recommends that where culling is required it should be undertaken by the public authority in charge and not made available on concession.
Where contractual parks have been established with private landowners and communities, or where fences between private land and national and
provincial parks have been removed, the Panel is of the opinion that limited forms of hunting can be allowed subject to the agreement of the conservation authority in charge of the park, the establishment of a proper management plan, and scientifically based off-take. Similar arrangements should apply to hunting in protected environments outside of the parks system.
Industry Transformation
During the course of the Panel’s work, it became evident that the level of transformation within the hunting industry is extremely low. At the same time, there are many opportunities for promoting or advancing transformation of the hunting industry. These include options for greater community involvement in hunting, greater ownership of extensive wildlife production units by previously disadvantaged individuals and employment opportunities in all high skilled occupations associated with both the hunting industry and its ancillary industries.
This transformation must be promoted through a number of processes: a
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Charter and Score-card, a skills
development strategy and an assortment of support strategies for communities that either currently own land or are to acquire land that has extensive wildlife production potential.
Damage-Causing Animals
While damage causing animals are a serious problem for communities and
farmers living adjacent to parks and game reserves, efforts to solve the problem by contracting it out to commercial hunters have led to some DCAs being declared artificially. The Panel strongly recommends that DCAs be dealt with under a separate policy process, and that no DCA should be hunted or be dealt with through a hunting concession.
Legal and Institutional Issues
The regulation of hunting is a concurrent legislative competence in terms of the Constitution. There are already extensive regulations in place at a provincial level governing the hunting industry, but these are often inconsistent, outdated and fragmented. There is a serious gap in terms of the overall coherence of the system nationally, and a unified framework is needed to create the context within which provincial regulations can function. The Panel recommends that uniformity is established through a set of national norms and standards which will guide the implementation of both national and provincial policy and legislation. While the industry will continue to be regulated by means of the existing statutory provisions, this will only happen to the extent that those provisions conform to the national
norms and standards.
The legal basis for biodiversity management in South Africa has been
established through the Biodiversity Act, and it is recommended that the national norms and standards are promulgated in terms of regulations under the Act. The Act allows for the listing of protected and endangered species and the making of regulations in regard to listed species. It is therefore proposed that the regulations apply initially to only those species that have been listed in terms of the Act, or in terms of provincial legislation.
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism will publish a draft list of species for public comment shortly. It should be noted that provincial lists are already quite extensive.
a. Self-regulation
The Panel recognises that there is a need for the Minister to formally
recognise national representative organisations that stand for the interests of the professional hunting, recreational hunting and associated industries.
The role of these organisations would be to ensure that its members adhere to acceptable codes of conduct and ethics, that it establishes a suitable accreditation system which becomes the basis for granting permits to professional hunters and outfitters, and that industry reports are submitted to the Minister on an annual basis consistent with the national reporting system.
b. Systems for a national regulatory framework
The Panel has made recommendations regarding quota setting, permitting,
independent monitoring and compliance and enforcement. In general, the
basis for the proposed regulatory system is a process of regular scientific assessments and monitoring of species and ecosystems, on the basis of which species are identified and listed in terms of their status as protected, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered, and annual off-take limits are set in order to ensure that the long-term survival and viability of both species or ecosystems is assured.
In terms of quota setting, a precautionary approach should in general be followed, and no new quotas or licenses are granted for species where the status of these species in the wild is not known or is uncertain. For vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species a moratorium on off-takes may be necessary, at least for certain geographic sub-populations (and therefore certain provinces), until and if further scientific research informs us differently. Population and Habitat Viability Assessments (or equivalent assessments) should be conducted for these listed threatened and protected species as soon as possible to ensure that any off-take quotas permitted are based on current, reliable information, and are sustainable given the ecology, geographic distribution and population trends of the species.
In terms of permitting, the provinces will continue to be the authorities responsible for the issuing of permits, but their decision-making processes relating to the issuing of hunting and hunting related permits will be required to comply with the national norms and standards. The national department will need to assess whether the provincial authorities have the administrative capacity to implement the norms and standards and, where they do not, to support them in fulfilling their obligations.
There is currently no national system for monitoring the conservation status of species, although the Biodiversity Act has allocated responsibility for such monitoring to the South African National Biodiversity Institute. A scientific basis for regulating the hunting industry will depend crucially on information collection and monitoring of conservation status and species’ trends, and there is an urgent need for the collection of national data that is related to the wildlife industry. The Panel believes that it is appropriate for such a monitoring system to be independent of the authorities that are charged with permitting and regulating the system, and recommends that SANBI proceeds to establish such a system forthwith.
Capacity
a. Industry Capacity
There is a need for greater co-operation between government, industry, and training institutions to plan for the training of previously disadvantaged persons to find gainful employment in all occupations associated with the hunting industry. This could be achieved through the development of a national skills strategy. Strategies would include the provision of bursaries to black learners to study wildlife management science to a first-level graduate level, the recognition of prior learning among current trackers and skinners through the introduction of the hunting guide qualification and incentives to encourage industry to make skills development programmes and learnerships available to previously disadvantaged individuals.
b. Government capacity
The Panel has noted that the resources and capacities of the provincial
nature conservation departments vary, and that only a few provincial
authorities have extension officers that are able to interface with wildlife producers and hunting organisations. Given the importance of the hunting industry to many provincial economies, and the importance of protecting the ecological reserve that supports the industry, all provinces should have at their disposal the necessary tools to regulate the wildlife industry and by implication, the hunting industry. These tools include adequate financial resources, human resources, equipment, operational procedures and an enabling organisational culture.
The Panel recommends a capacity and training needs assessment to gauge the capacity within public institutions, and to assess whether government officials, at all spheres of government, are able to fulfill their responsibilities with regard to policy and regulatory oversight. The Panel is of the view that this will be of great benefit to both broad public interest and the wildlife industry since a well managed and maintained governance system reduces transaction costs and supports positive environmental, economic and social benefits.
Institutional arrangements
During the course of the Panel’s work it became evident that there is a need for a more systematic engagement between the hunting industry, government and stakeholders at both national and provincial level. The Panel recommends that the newly established wildlife forum should be continued, and made more representative of the different role-players that interface with the hunting industry. The Panel is of the view that a greater level of stakeholder involvement in the science and research process will be beneficial to both the regulatory process and the industry, and recommends the establishment of a research forum under the auspices of SANBI that can assist the ongoing scientific research required for a scientific-based approach to wildlife management. Lastly, the Panel recommends that existing intergovernmental structures such as the Committee for Environmental Co-ordination and MinMEC are used on an ongoing basis to address relevant hunting issues, ensure synergy of policy, and the effective application of the norms and standards.
The Panel also recognises the need for greater co-operation with the law enforcement arm of government, and recommends that these bodies be the formal structures through which these arms of government are engaged on legal matters related to the professional and recreational hunting industry.
Funding
The proper regulation of the hunting industry as set out above will require additional financial resources. The hunting industry should in part contribute to such resources, in the interests of an effective regulatory system. The current system of permitting involves the payment of permit fees, but these vary widely between the provinces. It is recommended that permit fees are standardized across the provinces, and that a conservation fee is levied on all permits issued in order to support the monitoring and assessment process.
The Panel recommends that a detailed proposal is drawn up and submitted to the National Treasury regarding the viability of establishing a conservation be used to fund scientific assessments, monitoring and broad level conservation extension services.
The entire document is 77 pages long (about 600kb) if anyone desperately wants it I have the entire doc. Ed
Good Reads
Hi all
The following are really good reads as well as being highly thought-provoking:
Non-fiction
Jared Diamond, 2005. Collapse - how societies choose to fail or succeed.
Viking.
Edward O Wilson, 1992, 2001. The diversity of life. Penguin.
Fiction
Michael Crichton, 2004. State of fear. Harper Collins. (thriller, plot based on climate change; is it real? man-made?)
Thanks to - Orty & Michelle Bourquin, Ernest Pringle and Carl Vernon for these.
All the best
Jim Feely.
ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE
21st November 2005
Thanks to those of you who assisted with funds, especially the SAVE
Foundation of Australia, I was able to go to South Africa and purchase 2 new engines for the pumps in Hwange National Park as well as enough spare parts to repair another 20 engines. Thanks to Expeditors for clearing the goods so quickly and efficiently at the border.
In view of the critical situation up in Hwange, I went straight from South Africa to Hwange to try and get some water pumping as soon as possible. I delivered half the spares and one engine to Sinamatella and the balance to Robins Camp.
(NB I have left out the pictures in this copy but they will be available on request if you want to see them Ed)
Joanne Buckley Lamb, a ZCTF team member has been based in Sinamatella for the past month. She has been monitoring the distribution of the fuel we delivered and she has been doing a wonderful job motivating the workshop staff to try and make up working engines out of the engines that aren't working. By doing this, she managed to get some water pumping at a few of the dry pans before I arrived but she has had some heartbreaking experiences during the past month.
In the small number of pans with water, the water levels are so low that the animals are having to wade into deep mud before being able to reach the water. In some places, the mud is more than 3 feet deep and in their desperation for water, the animals are inadvertently walking into a death trap because once they are stuck in the mud, they can't get out and many have died in the mud. National Parks staff are working against great odds to try and rescue these animals. In the case of the larger animals, like elephants this involves pulling them out using chains or rope and a tractor and sometimes the stress of this operation kills the animal anyway.
In the case of smaller animals,National Parks staff are wading, sometimes chest deep into the mud and rescuing them by pulling them out of the mud manually.
These dedicated National Parks staff are doing the best they can with very limited resources. Most of them are devoted to the welfare of the wildlife but they are short of chains and ropes and very few of their vehicles are mobile because they have no tyres. I saw numerous National Parks vehicles up on stands with no tyres.
A very big thank you to Nets and Ropes who have donated 47kg of rope, Columbus McKinnon who are very kindly donating chains, AAT who have donated some tyres and Hivos who donated 2 500 litres of diesel. I will be taking all of this up to Hwange later this week.
Our first task, after delivering the spares to Sinamatella was to install a new engine at Inyantuie and get the water pumping into the pan there.
It was a great pleasure to hear the new engine fire up for the first time and watch the dry trough filling with water.
From there, we moved on to Shumba, still in the Sinamatella area where we did some minor repairs to the engine and fired it up. An engine which was supposed to be pumping water for drinking and toilet facilities at one of the National Parks safari camps was out of order so we repaired that as well.
We then went to Robins camp, delivered the rest of the spare parts and installed the second new engine at Little Tom. It was music to our ears to hear the engine start up because Little Tom hasn't had water for quite some time.
Our final stop in the Robins Camp area was Detema Pan where the engine wasn't pumping because it needed oil so we filled it with oil and fired it up.
We then made our way through Hwange National Park towards the Main Camp
area. Whilst travelling from pan to pan, we saw a number of carcasses of animals that had succumbed to either dehydration or the "black leg" disease which was a terrible thing to see especially in the case of the elephants.
It is not yet known for sure what causes this disease but it is thought that it may be due to not enough water being consumed or the fact that the animals are standing in contaminated mud for long periods of time. The feet start rotting, similar to gangrene and eventually the bones rot and break.
There is no cure for this disease and the kindest thing to do is to put the animal down.
We are racing against time in our fight to save the animals in Hwange but we are slowly making progress thanks to the overwhelming support many of you are giving us. We still have a lot to do - many of the engines in the Main Camp area are out of order and most of the pans there are dry so we are now working on supplying another load of engines and spares to that area. There are also numerous other miscellaneous items required in Hwange to help alleviate the problem such as:
Buckets to wash the mud off the rescued animals
Pick and shovels to remove excess mud from the pans
Tyres, tubes and tyre repair kits
Rope
Engine oil
Diesel
Cement to repair the troughs
I,5 to 2 ton block and tackle
1000m x 1,5 and 2 inch polythene pipe
150 x B144 'V' Belts
100m fuel hose
8mm gasket paper
Silicone sealer
30 and 50hp submersible pumps
Pipe wrenches - all sizes
2 inch gate valves
If anyone has any of these items lying around would like to help, please contact us on one of the telephone numbers below. The drop off point is 3 Fairbairn Drive Mount Pleasant. If you would like to email us, please send a new email to ZIMBABWE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE Please avoid using the "reply" button because you will send all our pictures back to us.
Johnny Rodrigues
Chairman for Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
Phone 263 4 336710, Fax 263 4 339065, Mobile 263 11 603 213
Email galorand@mweb.co.zw, www.zctf.mweb.co.zw
www.zimbabwe-art.com
Can anyone help a colleague?
I find I am in need of a patch from your Dept. to help enhance my Law
Enforcement, Fire, & EMT Collection. I am attempting to do this the hard way, by EMail... While as a Trooper for 27 years I did not collect, while having the many connections I had. Retirement has helped me to look back on the profession and wish I did. If you have an extra laying around, it sure would be put to good use displayed with many other great Departments & Units..... Thanks......
Leo Sitkowski
1006 E. 16th St.
Berwick, Pa., 18603
(Retired Trooper).
Position Available
We have been struggling to find a suitable person for our client in
Zululand.
We are looking for a bush school educator. The person must have FGASA or the Equivalent thereof and a First Aid Certificate. They must also be good with children, have a valid drivers licence, and preferably own Transport, but not essential as long as they have a drivers licence. Ideally the person should be over 27 years of age. They have found that due to the remoteness of the lodge / school, younger people have a tendency not to stay!. They would also prefer a female ( Not asking much are they ! ). The applicant must also be fit as a lot of walking and exercise is called for.
The Salary is 3500.00 per month with full board and lodging to start.
Yours Faithfully
Alan and Joanne Nicholas, hccrecrute@absamail.co.za.
Tailpiece-
It's not difficult to make a woman happy....believe it!
A man only needs to be:
A friend, a companion, a lover, a brother, a father, an electrician, a
carpenter, a plumber, a mechanic, a decorator, a stylist, a sexologist, a gynecologist, a psychologist, a pest exterminator, a psychiatrist, a good listener, a good father, sympathetic, warm, attentive, gallant, intelligent, funny, creative, tender, strong, understanding, tolerant, ambitious, courageous, determined, dependable, passionate and compassionate.
Without forgetting to:
Give her compliments regularly, love shopping, be honest, be very rich, not stress her out and not look at other girls.
And at the same time you must also:
Give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself.
Give her lots of time, especially time for herself.
Give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes.
It's very important:
Never to forget birthdays, anniversaries or arrangements she makes.
How to make a man happy:
Show up naked.
Bring food and beer.
Hand over the remote.
Matter of Fact
This is an electronic newsletter of the Game Rangers' Association of Africa. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Association, nor of the Editor. This is intended to be an exchange of news snips, ideas and communication between members. Newsletter content may be copied and re-distributed without authorisation. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editor at dyunnie@xsinet.co.za
