In a move meant to support the anti- poaching campaign in Tanzania,
Germany has donated 11 vehicles to expand surveillance and security in
national parks and game reserves.
The vehicles were handed over to President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday
at the State House in Dar es Salaam by Africa Director for Frankfurt
Zoological Society (FZS) Robert Muir on behalf of the German government.They will be used to expand surveillance and security in Serengeti National Park, Selous and Maswa Game reserves.
The eleven vehicles are part of Euro 20 million (equivalent to
40bn/-) set aside to help Tanzania’s fight against poaching in the next
five years.
Five of the vehicles will go to Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) to
be used in Serengeti National Parks, while six will go to the Wildlife
Division, five of which will be used in Selous Game Reserve and one in
Maswa Reserve.
Speaking during the hand-over ceremony President Kikwete said while
poaching for meat and trophies is a long standing problem in the
country, of late killing of elephants for their tusks has reached
alarming proportions.
“As you are all aware, the number of elephants in Selous and Ruaha
dropped from 74,416 in 2009 to 33,084 in 2013 due to poaching activities
… this is alarming,” he said.
He said the government has scaled up the anti-poaching campaign, and the results have so far been promising.
The President said through Operesheni Kipepeo and Operesheni Tokomeza and
other interventions the government has uncovered criminal networks, arrested 2,085 poachers and their accomplices in the illegal ivory trade network.
“We have confiscated 1,721 weapons and several caches of arms used
by poachers. It has been a hard-won success. We need to sustain the
gain because the problem remains unsolved,” he stressed.
He said the threat posed by poaching and illegal ivory trade to the
world heritage and the country’s economy is real. Tourism is an
important sector which contributes 17 percent of Tanzania’s GDP and
employs over 300,000 people.
He said the challenge posed by the sheer size of the wildlife area
is compounded by the insufficient game and warden staff currently at
1,155 personnel, which is only 24 percent of the actual need.
The low number of staff dictates that, one person patrols about
169 square kilometres compared to the required international standard of
25 square kilometres per person.
He said the government is in the process of employing 949 wildlife
management officers and will continue to do so every year until the gap
is closed in the next three to four years.
“The donation we have received today is indeed timely. It has come
at a time of serious need. Certainly, the challenge before us is
daunting, but we have no other choice. We need to build the capacity of
our wildlife division to be able to fight this war and win,” Kikwete
said.
He said the anti-poaching campaign cannot be won by Tanzania and
affected countries alone. “This is a global problem that requires a
global response. It requires joint efforts from within and outside the
elephant range in the country, and within and across regions,” he
stressed.
Africa Director of FZS Robert Muir said the handover of the
vehicles symbolises the fruitful partnership between FZS and the
ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism.
He said recent collaboration has also included the aerial wildlife
census of the Selous Ecosystem in October 2013. The results from the
census raised concerns about a rapid decline in elephant numbers,
calling for increased protection efforts through ongoing monitoring and
evaluation.
“As rhino and elephants poaching numbers reach unprecedented levels
we at FZS commit to continue support to Tanapa and the Wildlife
Division in order to expand surveillance and security” he said.
Natural Resources and Tourism Lazaro Nyalandu said the operation
Tokomeza II will kickoff anytime from now. He cautioned people who feed
their animals in the national parks and game reserves to immediately
stop because once the operation Tokomeza II starts it will not spare
them.
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