Former poachers surrender firearms
By TATENDA MALAN

From The Daily Mail

A TOTAL of 1,200 former poachers living near game management areas in the country have in the past 10 months surrendered 554 firearms and over 5,200 snares to the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) project.

The COMACO initiative which is a project striving to reform poachers is being implemented by the Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Deputy Minister of Tourism and Environment, Michael Kaingu said when he received the surrendered firearms yesterday in Lusaka that Government was losing millions of Kwacha in tourism revenue because of illegal hunting.

He called for concerted efforts to end poaching.

“Zambia is a country endowed with rich natural resources, with an incalculable wealth of bio-diversity which we all have a duty to conserve.

“The products and services that these resources provide are invaluable and it would be folly for us to utilise them unsustainably, knowing too well that our children will depend on these very resources for their sustenance,†he said.

However, Mr Kaingu observed that people with no sustainable livelihood, would inevitably turn to natural resources.

He said in most cases the use of the resources was unsustainable because of indiscriminate exploitation.

“It is therefore imperative that we work towards reducing rural poverty, not only because it’s in line with our conservation objectives but also because poverty in general is inhuman and a stumbling block to the government plan of ensuring better living standards,†he said.

Earlier, PAM acting director, Paul Kapotwe, said COMACO was a project designed to reform poachers so that they could engage in sustainable alternative ventures such as farming for them to help in conserving both game and the environment.

Mr Kapotwe said in return, former poachers were encouraged to hand over guns and snares that they previously used in poaching and animal trapping.

At the same function, Zambia Wildlife Authority director-general, Lewis Saiwana, said the COMACO initiative was a good project.

“As ZAWA, we are encouraged because we are not alone in the fight against poaching.

We might be thin on the ground but we are doing something,†he said.

Dr Saiwana said ZAWA had noted an increase in wildlife in areas where illegal guns and snares had been surrendered.