Is there quota on the "human crocodiles"?

Kathi & Guests



Where the hell is the money going !!!!



Thank you world for all the help to Zambia, no wonder you GUYS are paying through the backside in TAXES in the Free World ( LOL ) see some recent report/s below.



Peter

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6, Jul 2004



Zambian communities share in safari hunting proceeds



Lusaka/ Mfuwe, Zambia - Official Zambian government figures show that the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) has paid out over K1.8 billion (US$37 million) to 49 communities living in Game Management Areas (GMAs) around the country from proceeds of hunting licenses issued in the 2003 hunting season.



Zambian Tourism Minister, Patrick Kalifungwa, revealed in a statement issued on 20 May 2004 that these funds were paid out to eligible communities living along boundaries of GMAs, open hunting areas, and chiefdoms with interests in wildlife and other natural resources. He disclosed that all the Community Resource Boards (CRBs) and chiefs who met the criteria for such payments had since received their dues for the year 2003.



However, he also disclosed that ZAWA was still owing communities about K417 million (US$87,000) for the 1999 to 2002 hunting seasons because this period represents the time when government had imposed a ban on safari hunting and ZAWA had been unable to collect sufficient revenue from other available sources then.



�The public will appreciate that the issue of outstanding payments to communities for the years 1999 to 2002 is beyond the control of ZAWA as the safari hunting ban was imposed by the previous administration,� the minister said.



Revenue sharing between ZAWA and local communities remains a topical issue in the realm of sustainable wildlife and natural resources management in Zambia and elsewhere in the region.



Many people and organizations are sympathetic with local communities� position as bearers of the greatest cost of wildlife conservation, especially through human�wildlife conflict and other costs they incur by co-existing with wildlife and helping with conservation efforts. But Management Authorities such as ZAWA find themselves very dependent on the income generated by the same wildlife, thereby giving rise to competition for these resources.



Initiatives of WWF's Southern Africa Programme, such as the Regional CBNRM Project and the Lupande Land Use Planning Project in the Lupande GMA, aim, among other things, to support both the Management Authorities and local communities to find mutually complimentary approaches to managing local natural resources and wildlife.



Local residents of the Lupande Game Management Area, adjacent to Zambia�s South Luangwa National Park, are relieved that the Zambian government has lifted the ban on safari hunting, which came into effect in 1999.



According to official sources at the time, the Zambian government banned safari hunting in the country�s GMAs in order to develop a more transparent mechanism for allocating hunting concessions and to allow some recovery of wildlife populations.



However, the ban also implied the drying up of ZAWA�s most lucrative source of revenue � safari-hunting fees. All of this followed on the heels of the organization�s transformation from a government parks department to a semi-autonomous authority, among whose new terms of reference was attainment of financial independence.



But local communities in GMAs, such as Lupande, appear to have been among the greatest casualties of the hunting ban. Having tasted the benefits of hunting revenue dividends through community projects such as schools, bore holes, education scholarships, and direct employment, these communities could not come to terms with the implications of a freeze on hunting.



Mr. Edwin Chupa is the Headmaster of Yosefe Basic School in Chief Kakumbi�s chiefdom of Lupande. Communities in surrounding villages once nominated his school as a community project towards which their share of the safari hunting revenues were to be channeled.



Mr. Chupa proudly takes visitors on a conducted tour of the infrastructure that was built from these funds.



�We built one complete house to accommodate a teacher and we added a classroom block to the school. We have also done some rehabilitations and painting to the other teachers� houses within the school compound,� he says.



Yosefe Basic School also supports 70 disadvantaged children with high school academic scholarships.



�We have to support these pupils because they have great academic promise and they are either orphans or their parents are too poor to afford their school fees once they leave our school to pursue high school studies elsewhere in our province,� says Mr. Chupa, whose school only goes up to the ninth grade.



Mr. Chupa therefore revealed that he was very pleased that the hunting ban had been lifted. He intimated that the support that communities had shown for his school could only be sustained if communities continued to get their share of hunting revenues.



But concerns still remain about the revenue sharing framework between ZAWA and local communities.



Malama Njovu is the Senior Field Officer of the WWF Land Use Planning Project in Lupande. He works with Community Resource Boards (CRBs) and Village Action Groups (VAGs), the organizational units through which communities interface with other stakeholders on issues of natural resources management and wildlife. It is also at these levels that decisions are made about how to utilize hunting revenues for community projects.



Malama points out that communities generally complain that they have inadequate information about how much money is generated from hunting quotas in their areas every season. They also express confusion about the proportion of income that is due to them because these revenues first go the ZAWA, which in turn is supposed to remit the communities� share to the Community Resource Boards.



With support from WWF and other NGOs in the area, Malama hopes that communities can have their capacities strengthened to enable them negotiate better with ZAWA, develop skills for proposal writing to implement micro-projects within their areas, and also acquire knowledge and skills for natural resources management





MORE MONEY INTO ZAMBIA: ( the whole world is pouring money into the country )



where does all the money end up !!! in the bottomless pit (-: Peter



Liuwa National Park lands $500m - By Times Reporter



THE United States has contributed $500 million towards the development of the Liuwa National Park recently leased to South African investors, African Parks Zambia Limited.



US ambassador to Zambia Martin Brennan said the signing of the lease agreement was a step in the right direction and expressed hope that the funds would contribute to the development of the park.



Speaking in an interview in Lusaka during celebrations to mark the Italian day, Mr Brennan said he had no doubt the Liuwa park project would benefit the local community hence the need for all to work as a team.



�We are happy that at long last the signing of the Liuwa National park agreement has been done and we have since contributed $500 million towards the project, � he said.



The Liuwa National Park agreement was signed recently by the Barotse Royal Establishment, Zambia Wildlife (ZAWA) and African Parks Zambia Limited.



ZAWA hopes the new private public sector partnership with African Parks would ensure that capital investment which had been lacking in the last decade was rejuvenated.



African Parks Zambia Limited has committed some K2.5 billion every year representing over 1,000 per cent rise in the amounts currently being spent.



Mr Brennan said he was happy the project had been finally signed and that misrepresentation of facts could have derailed the project.



He said apart from raising revenue, the project would also create employment for over 200 local people and that was part of the signed agreement.



He said it was wrong to suggest that the project was not going to benefit the community and that a venture of such nature needed the support of the locals for it to achieve meaningful development.





MORE BENOVELANT MONEY Aint it wonderful to be POOR in this world )-: Peter



World Bank, NORAD pledge US$3m for Kafue National Park By Times Reporter



THE World Bank and the Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD) have pledged to develop the Kafue National Park, with the bank earmarking $3 million for the development of road infrastructure in the park.



The two institutions committed themselves to financing infrastructure development to make the park one of the best tourist spots in the region at the launch of the Kafue National Park Investment Promotion Programme in Lusaka yesterday.



World Bank country manager Ohene Nyanin and Norwegian ambassador to Zambia Halvard Lesteberg both said apart from the joint $6.3 million investment assistance, they would extend technical support to the Zambia Wildlife Authority (Zawa) to help the authority manage the park.



Dr Nyanin said the bank would also finance patrol, ecological monitoring, road maintenance equipment and secondary infrastructure such as office buildings and housing for park staff.



�We trust that our support will improve not only park access and overall aesthetics but also help wildlife regenerate to its historical level, thereby making Kafue one of the greatest wildlife and economic assets in the Southern Africa again,� he said.



He said that the improvements were meant to preserve the bio-diversity in the park and help to increase its revenue and sustainability potential.



Dr Nyanin noted that the international bank was getting involved in order to assist Zambia to develop economically and help to reduce poverty among her citizens.



�We recognise that improved natural resources management is a necessary condition for sustained growth and for the development of rural communities, particularly those adjacent to protected areas,� Dr Nyanin said.



And Mr Lesteberg said the lessons from the 15-year management support by his government to the South Luangwa National Park, which he said had become a prime destination for wildlife-based tourism in Zambia, would be applied to the Kafue park.



He said discussions initiated three years ago with Government to link the park to Livingstone through a good road network had reached an advanced stage.



Tourism Minister Patrick Kalifungwa said the Government had a vision of turning Zambia into a top tourist destination of choice in the region by improving the road, airport and communication networks.



Mr Kalifungwa said that Kafue National Park was particularly important because it was not only uniquely rich in a variety of tourist attractions but was also the best located, the nearest to the capital city and the tourist capital.



He noted that the ministry would embark on marketing activities that will attract real and tangible investment to the park. In this regard, an investors forum had been planned for Livingstone in June this year which would be proceeded by a field visit to the park.



Speaking at the same function, Finance Minister Ng�andu Magande said while the macroeconomic environment was improving, there was need to encourage additional investment in key sectors such as tourism by improving infrastructure and seeking aggressive marketing strategies.



Mr Magande said Government had priotised the sector, along with mining, manufacturing and agriculture to generate the needed growth in the economy.

I can agree with Balla Balla's sentiment here. Most of the claims are hogwash, if that kind of money does get disbursed to the communities I reckon in a few months the rural areas will be sorted.
I think most of us saw pictures of BillC's hunt does the school pictures look like they had received a part of this money??
Another issue is the Dollar amount if converted it is only 3.6 million.
Basic math eludes our authorities gives you an idea of the intellect we have to deal with!!!!!
A lot of our government declarations have to be taken not with a pinch of salt but I reckon with a bag of salt.

'Villagers Attacked By Wild Animals Should Be Paid'


The Times of Zambia (Ndola)

October 14, 2004
Posted to the web October 14, 2004


THE House of Chiefs has called on Government to amend the National Parks and Wildlife Act Cap 201 to include a section that would compel the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) to compensate individuals who are attacked or whose properties are destroyed by wild animals.

In moving a motion during a session yesterday, Chief Munyumbwe said that ZAWA as the overseer of all parks in the country should be compelled to pay some form of compensation since it made a lot of money from the revenue collected from the national parks.


He said that ZAWA should plough back the money it made from the sale of hunting licences to the communities as they were exposed to high risks from the animals in the parks.

He challenged Government through ZAWA to go to his village where it would be availed first-hand information on how many people were killed by wild animals.

"What is the purpose of protecting wild animals at the expense of human lives since ZAWA does not react when a person is killed by wild animals but will act almost immediately when they get the news that a wild animal has been killed by villagers?" he asked.

The motion was seconded by Chief Nyalugwe who complained that the procedure of getting permission to have the animals cropped was too long.

He said by the time information reached the office of the director general the animals would have killed a lot of people and a lot of property would have been destroyed.

He also suggested that ZAWA should reduce the price of game meat as a way of discouraging poaching.

Chief Kabinga of Mpika also revealed that 39 people had been caught by what were suspected to be human crocodiles, and the situation was attributed to the number of upcoming businessmen in the area who were using black magic to enhance their businesses.

He expressed disappointment that the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) had not responded to the local communities request to have the man-eating reptiles cropped.

He said chiefs in the area had written to Tourism and Natural Resources Minister Patrick Kalifungwa, through their area Member of Parliament Judith Kapijimpanga and they were still awaiting a response on the way forward.

But Chief Chitambo said the problem sometimes lay with the villagers who entered the restricted game areas without permission and usually with an intention to kill wild animals but ended up being killed themselves.


He also said that ZAWA had the responsibility of killing animals that destroyed crops and should give the carcasses to the affected villagers.

The chief noted that it was not possible for ZAWA to monitor all areas near the game reserves following the retrenchment exercise that had left the authority with a limited number of game rangers.