ZAWA cautions CRBs against financials misuse
By MARTI NKOLOMBA
Zambia Daily Mail

THE Zambia Wild Life Authority (ZAWA) has cautioned community resource boards (CRBs) within the Authority against misuse of financial resources.

ZAWA board chairman Walusiku Lisulo said the funds were meant to enhance the socio-economic status of local people that lived side-by-side with the wildlife resource.

Mr Lisulo said reports of misappropriation of funds channelled to CRBs derailed sustained rural development in wildlife management areas.

“Reports of misuse of funds are disturbing to all of us who facilitate sustainable rural development through effective wildlife management,” he said.

Mr Lisulo said this at the official opening of the national consultative workshop on the draft national policy on community-based natural resource management yesterday.

He said ZAWA continued to face serious challenges such as encroachment on prime wildlife habitat and poaching.

Mr Lisulo said the challenges threatened the sustainability of wildlife, which would eventually affect the tourism industry.

“Since wildlife is at the centre of tourism development in our country, we need to jealously protect it from unsustainable utilisation and other threats,” Mr Lisulo.

He said Government had accentuated tourism as a second priority in national development after agriculture.

At the same function, Zambia community-based natural resource management forum coordinator Mwape Sichilongo said his organisation was in solidarity with ZAWA’s undertaking to put the policy in place.

Mr Sichilongo said this was because the policy attempted to empower CRBs to enter into joint ventures such as safari hunting and photographic tourism with the private sector for purposes of income generation.

He said his organisation’s support of the policy was also in view of the policy’s emphasis on land use and management plans with strengthened legal status as tools for controlling land and resources in Game Management Areas.

“We find these as progressive ideas which we are in support of and pledge our future support towards their realisation,” he said.
Ends………….

Basically this CRB wildlife utilisation discussion has been going on for many years now, and not a lot has changed really.

Essentially the problem still remains not enough MONEY and skilled people/interested parties to move forward. There has been an amount of fraud involved and it seems nothing has truly worked successfully.

There are big words bandied around but at the end of the day it is MONEY MONEY and oversight required

Cheers, Peter

Find me a photo of an honest African official and I will send you a photo of a three legged pole dancer . Same old problem, steal while you can before the next thief in line gets it.

Dave, for that matter, show me an honest official ANYWHERE, and I'll show you that pole dancer's sister!