Wildlife Compensation Scheme Takes Root
Friday, 28th of March 2008

By Chrispin Inambao

From The New Era
KATIMA MULILO

A groundbreaking compensation scheme in which relatives of villagers wildly trampled to death by elephants from the Mudumu National Park and victims of lions and monstrous, man-eating crocodiles is in place in Mashi area.

The unique scheme – the brainchild of the traditional leader of the Mashi community, Chief Joseph Tembwe Mayuni, in Kongola Constituency in Caprivi covers thousands of registered members of three trailblazing conservancies of Kwandu, Mayuni and Mashi.

Though the Ministry of Environment and Tourism has dilly-dallied over the introduction of a compensatory scheme for family members of people mauled to death by predatory animals such as lions, citing complexities that could arise from such a scheme, Chief Mayuni took it upon himself to initiate the scheme for his community in 2001.

The forerunner to the present game compensatory scheme successfully in operation in the several conservancies was an initiative implemented in 2001 that entailed a local lodge owner paying villagers in his area compensation of N$500 for each cow killed by lions.

In addition, the other benefit from the lodge was that the community was initially entitled to a share of three percent of the profits, though this has now increased significantly.

This impressed the Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC) that they joined forces with the chief and signed a fifty-fifty agreement that involves the three conservancies and IRNDC that pay up to N$800 split between the two parties to villagers that lose their cattle to lions, hyenas, crocodiles and even leopards.

The chief says the N$800 is payable irrespective of the size of the livestock.

On top of this, registered members of the various conservancies whose relatives are killed by marauding jumbos, lions, crocodiles and hippos receive N$5 000 compensation.

He said buffaloes kill a few people, unlike in conservancies such as Salambala in Kabbe Constituency, because there are not so many of these beasts in his area.

The chief of the Mafwe resident in the Mashi area says elephant cause the most loss of human lives followed by crocodiles and hippos, while giant crocodiles kill many livestock.

He says his community derives a raft of benefits from the area’s fauna and flora and everyone, unlike in the past, is involved in nature conservation in one way or another.

In the past game warders from the Ministry of Environment seemingly had a trigger-happy attitude towards villagers who took the law into their hands whenever they lost family members to wild animal attacks by hunting down so-called problem animals.

Now every soul in Chief Mayuni’s community realise how valuable this resource is and they now fully grasp the importance of game by the way of benefits such as the handsome hunting fees and the game meat distributed among conservancy members.

Mayuni fully appreciated the economic value of game after he leant at a game auction held at Waterberg Plateau in 1994 that a single Roan Antelope fetched N$30 000 and N$115 000 at the time far more than any of the most priced cattle in the chief’s kraal.

Some villagers paid university tuition for their children thanks from conservancy cash such as the approximate N$2.7 million disbursed in 2007 to Kasika, Impalila, Salambala, Kwandu, Mayuni, Mashi, Sobbe, Balyerwa, Wuparo and Kyaramacan.

While trophy hunting generated N$2.4 million for these conservancies last year added to this are other benefits such as the bush meat and the salaries paid to trackers and skinners.

All the three conservancies of Kwandu, Mayuni and Mashi each received its share of N$197 321 from hunting fees that translated into N$1 785 per household in Mashi.

“Initially poachers heavily-armed with AK47s used to engage game warders in deafening gun battles but this changed after I went around villages telling my people about the importance of our game,†the chief said in a recent interview at his traditional palace.

Apart from sensitising the community on the importance of the area’s godsend fauna and flora, Chief Mayuni has been instrumental in establishing a community anti-poaching unit that relies on intelligence given by an elaborate informer network that includes women that culminated in a whole arsenal of rusty AK47s rifles taken out of circulation.

Ivory from illegally hunted elephants been seized and former die-hard poachers are now reformed conservationists rehabilitated from their previously counterproductive ways.

To an extent, trophy hunting has visibly reduced wild animal attacks on humans and communities in these conservancies have significantly reduced poaching.

As people who indiscriminately cut down trees as the revered Khuta could summon them to explain their illicit actions, which could result in a fine, while the indiscriminate chopping down of trees and unauthorised cutting of grass for thatching is now history.

Conservancies were mooted in Caprivi in early 1996 after Mayuni and his entourage heavily lobbied the then Environment and Tourism Minister Gert Hanekom to consider enacting legislation that would see his community benefiting from the game in their area.

Shortly after the late minister consulted with his colleagues in Cabinet the Mashi community received the nod to go ahead with their undertaking. This resulted in the communities of Kongola Sub-Khuta, Kongola, Singalamwe, Mwanzi, Sikaunga, Sisheke, Masheshe, Choi, Ngonga, Lizauli, Sachona and Lubuta forming anti-poaching units.

It was at this time the chief, who has gained both local and international recognition as a famed conservationist, spearheaded the idea of conservancies to villagers that previously viewed wild animals in a negative light or regarded them only as good for the pot.

Mayuni has a highly dignified personae and his knowledge about the game species found in his area is particularly the flagship Mayuni Conservancy is almost encyclopedic.

For the uninitiated whose knowledge is limited of various game animals in Silozi the lingua franca of multitude ethnic groups in Caprivi, the chief translated a whole range of a wide variety of game and other species from English into Silozi language in brackets.

Kudu (tolo), elephant (tou), lion (tau), hippo (kubu), crocodile (kwena), wildebeest (kokomu), eland (pofu), sable antelope (kwalata ye nsu), roan antelope (kwalata ye seta), impala (pala), lechwe (mazwi), mutobo (reedbuck), katutunga (situtunga), and leopard (lina`u), buffalo (nali), zebra (pizi), python (mboma), puff adder (sibili) and others.

Sounds positive for all concerned: The native people, the wildlife, and the wildlife consumers (hunters and tourists). It's always a challenge to satisfy all of the legitimate interests that they are recieving their fair share from a common resource. The more parties that support the conservation of wildlife, the more successful that conservation will be (and the more affordable it will be to the consumer.)