Game park guarded by 6 footing wardens

2008-01-02 08:42:49
By Patrick Kisembo


Six ill-equipped game wardens guard the 2,228.36-square kilometre Lwafi Game Reserve, located in Nkasi District. They have no single vehicle, and are forced to walk long-distances to monitor security.

An on-the-spot survey by The Guardian has established that the warders are working under extremely difficult conditions to protect the treasured wildlife, and are now losing hope because transport woes have remained unresolved for over six years.

The revelation comes at a time when it has been established that refugees from camps in neigbouring Mpanda District, using heavy military weapons, are poaching with impunity and killing animals in scandalous numbers at Ugala Game Reserve and Katavi National Park.

Other poachers come directly from the DRC and Burundi.

Reports from Mpanda say poachers are mainly from Katumba and Mishamu refugee camps. These can still reach Lwafi Game Reserve with ease.

The Lwafi Game Reserve, established in 1993, is increasingly becoming vulnerable to clever and highly-equipped poachers.

Apart from facing serious transport problems, the game reserve faces acute shortage of staff.

Guards protecting the reserve are few, and there are no office or field staff, according to our investigations.

For protecting an area as huge as Lwafi, mobility is essential, yet the game reserve has no single vehicle, not even a motorbike.

In 2002, the district wildlife department had one vehicle which is now out of use.

Currently, game wardens and other departmental staff depend on borrowed transport from other government sections.

``It is difficult for us to fight on-going poaching. The situation becomes worse when we lack even a patrol vehicle. We have to borrow cars from other departments, which often lack fuel,`` said an official.

Another official told The Guardian that the Lwafi Game Reserve was a poachers` haven because it had only six game wardens.

``The game wardens are posted as follows: Two at Lyazumbi, two at China and the remaining two at Nkana,`` he said.

To make things worse, there is no single patrol boat for Lake Tanganyika, and the wardens have to hire fishermen?s boats in order to conduct lake patrols.

When this reporter contacted the Nkasi District Executive Director, Christine Midello, she said district authorities had unsuccessfully appealed in writing to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources, asking for a patrol car.

According to the Midello, the government replied that Nkasi District should continue to use patrol vehicles belonging to Rukwa and Lukwati Game Reserves and also from the Tabora Anti Poaching Unit.

The ministry`s response was written by the then head of anti-poaching department in the ministry, Felix Lyimo, who was then Acting as Director of Wildlife.

According to another official of the district, Ahmud Mbanza, rampant poaching persists although patrols are undertaken twice a month.

Mbanza said: ``The game reserve is too large?it takes almost about 60 per cent of the district`s area. All the problems you have mentioned exist.``

He said that the government had advised the district authority to collaborate with patrol teams from Iringa, Rukwa and Lukwati reserves, and also from Tabora Region.

`Just ask yourself, how you can collaborate with a person who is 300 kilometres away if you want to curb poaching?`` he queried, citing Tabora which is located far from Nkasi.

In a telephone interview, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Blandina Nyoni, told this reporter that the government had a lot of priorities as far as protection of game reserves was concerned.

She said there were a lot of financial constraints that hindered the proper taking care of all game reserves and parks.

``We have to understand that the anti-poaching department is still new and can hardly deal with all these problems. We are trying to stabilize this department. I hope the situation will improve in future,`` she said.

SOURCE: Guardian

Comment on this article

Looks like it's time for us hunters to step up to the mark. Does anyone have contacts with the game dept? If a few thou. was raised for a vehicle or two and some communications equipment, would it be used effectively? Would a vehicle be unused for lack of fuel? It osunds like it woudln't take a lot of $$ to make a big difference.
Brice

You'd also have to hire an extra person to guard the equipment you'd send. Fuel, batteries and tires would magically disappear.

Perry

Abdul Mulla of the infamous Usangu Mulla's poaches the absolute hell out of this area. Yeah...I can prove it.

Jeff