Southern Africa: Rhino Poaching a Concern to the Region

DEPUTY Prime Minister Marco Hausiku has warned that cross-border rhino poaching could reverse the big success made in rhino protection in southern Africa.

"Rhino poaching is a cause for concern for all the range states and it needs all our attention and focus to address it," said Hausiku when he opened a meeting of SADC ministers responsible for natural resources, wildlife, fisheries and forestry in Windhoek yesterday morning.

Hausiku said the region was successful in bringing rhino species back from the brink of extinction, but it looks like poaching is going to reverse this success.

He said cross-border environmental crimes in southern Africa are becoming problematic as they erode the gains made over the past decade.

Namibia: Hausiku Warns About Growing Enviro Crimes

Windhoek — Deputy Prime Minister, Marco Hausiku, has expressed concern about an upsurge in cross-border environmental crimes in southern Africa.

Hausiku, who opened the meeting for SADC Ministers responsible for Natural Resources Management and the Environment, in Windhoek, said cross-border environmental crime is becoming proble­matic as it erodes the gains made over the past decades in conserving and managing wildlife, fisheries, forestry and other natural resources.

He singled out rhino poaching as a cause for concern for all the states, which he said needs attention and has to be addressed.

"Southern Africa was successful in bringing rhino species back from the brink of extinction, but it looks like poaching is going to reverse that success," Hausiku added.

On average, at least one rhino a day is killed in neighbouring South Africa.

During 2010, 333 rhinos were killed in South Africa, while about 140 were killed so far, this year.

As part of its pro-active approach Namibia, which is on high alert, in partnership with Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) recently launched the Rhino Hotline, where members of the public now have a toll-free number to alert authorities if they notice any unusual activity especially with regard to rhino, an endangered species.

According to Hausiku, the crimes are cross-border in nature, well-organised and sophisticated and do not only deprive states of valuable resources but in many instances take livelihoods away from rural communities who make a sustainable living from such resources.

Hausiku said such criminal practices result in rural poverty, making people heavily dependent on natural resources, with the potential to negatively impact on the health and integrity of the environment, fisheries, forestry and wildlife sectors.

"When people are poor and have no choices or alternative livelihoods, the sectors under discussion become their only hope and the issue of sustainable use is not relevant as the immediate objective of people in such situations is to meet their basic needs," the deputy premier cautioned.

Meanwhile, the ministers' meeting discussed the progress made with the implementation of decisions taken in 2010 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

Key among the issues that were discussed in Victoria Falls is the status of the environment and natural resources in the SADC Region, the position for negotiation at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP16), and the common negotiating position for Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS).

Also discussed were the approval and implementation of protocols especially those that deal with forestry and fisheries, approval of three new programmes dealing with aquaculture, fire management and co-management of shared fisheries resources of the Zambezi Basin, and the celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity.

Senior officials in the region dealing with natural resources met over the past three days, before it ended with the ministers' meeting yesterday.

Deputy SADC Secretary-General, Joao Samwel Caholo, expressed hope that the meeting would get a clear roadmap with regard to COP 17 which is an important platform for the region to put across its common position on issues concerning climate change.

Caholo also suggested that country's sharing the Indian Ocean work out a similar agreement such as the Benguela Current Commission (BCC) in the Atlantic Ocean.

The BCC is a multi-sectoral initiative by Angola, Namibia and South Africa to promote integrated management, sustainable development and protection of the environment using an ecosystem approach to ocean governance.

It is focusing, inter alia, on the management of shared fish stocks, environmental monitoring and early warning, biodiversity and ecosystem health, socio-economics, governance, data and information management and is striving to keep training and capacity building at the forefront of its agenda.