Environmentalists: Suspends hunting in Selous

2006-04-13 08:02:41
By Said Mmanga, PST, Morogoro


Eastern Arc Mountains environment stakeholders have advised the government to suspend professional hunting in Selous Game Reserve at least for five years to pave way for the increased of game.

The stakeholders have also advised on the necessary review of the duration of hunting permits to be shortened from five years to annual issuance to prevent destruction of biodiversity.

The consensus was part of the deliberations of the general meeting held last week drawing participants from Morogoro, Dodoma and Iringa following a declaration on making the Eastern Arc Mountains part of the world heritage.

They raised concern on the wanton destruction of biodiversity in the Selous Game Reserve, especially along the Kilombero Valley, due to excessive and inconsiderate use of land.

Another observation made in the discussion was the killing of endangered species like ’sheshe’ or ’ndungu among others found in the Selous Game reserve, the largest in Africa.

It was insisted that the review of the hunting duration would allow progressive assessment of performance of professional hunters some disregarding the established regulations.

Speaking during the meeting, Iringa Regional Commissioner, Capt Jaka Mwambi said the placement of private interests before those of the nation was creating contradictions in environmental conservation.

The Luguru Chief Kingalu Mwana Banzi the 14th said the government was yet to stake enough money for environmental conservation.


SOURCE: Guardian

Translation:

Permits will cost more next year.

During the seven years I had Kilombero North Safaris I gave the government more than US$ 1 Million in trophy fees, conservation fees, licence fees etc..

Of that 25 % or about US$ 250,000 was supposed to come back for anti-poaching. The rest was supposed to support the Game Department in Dar.

That would have been enough because its costs about $US 20,000 a year to do anti-poaching in the off season there. And they actually had about US$ 35,000 to use. That is more than enough.

In fact none of that money ever came back. It was all pocketed.

The big problem there now is nomadic cattle herders by the thousands are leaving Masailand, which is over grazed, and are pouring into the Kilombero Valley.

They come from the Masai, Mangatti and expecially the Sikuma tribes. They enter the area with as many as 30,000 head of cattle at a time. The Mangatti actually spear the buffalo cows and calves perhaps so they will have more grass for their cows or perhaps to eat.they refuse to eat fish which is what the river is full of. It is beneath their dignity.

They are not supposed to be there but they never leave because they give the government officials in charge of their removal cattle as bribes and and raise these cattle for them. These cattle then have calves which become the property of the government officials. Its like money in the bank.

The cattle herders poison the lions when they arrive. The way you can tell this is there are no vultures. Before they arrive there are lots of roaring lions and if you kill a buffalo 300 vultures will arrive before you have the cape off. After the cattle herders have been there a few months the vultures disappear and the roaring stops. That means they have been poisoned. Thge vultures are the most visible tip off.

As far as the Selous. The good thing is no people live in the Selous. The Blocks of Gerrard Pasenesis and Luke Samaras for example are full of game. I don't know about the blocks owned by local operators.

This press release is just a local hustle. It didn't even make the Dar papers it seems. Somebody has picked up the word "biodiversity" and is waving it around and just trying to use it to cash in. Could be some dumbfuck anti-hunting NGO lurking in the background. They come and they go all the time knowing less whe n they leave than when they arrived.



VBR,



Ted Gorsline

Addenda: Notice in the newsletter the stakeholders (used to be called villagers) want to reduce the length of tenure of a hunting block in the Selous from five years to one.

That's the way it was in the bad old days. Outfitters didn't know from one season to the next whether their hunting block was theirs or not so they spent no money on infrastructure and anti-poaching.

You could go to Dortmund or SCI selling one block and not have it by the end of the show. Very Chaotic. And if you were in a Game Control Area)you had constant and long line ups of local politicians at your doorstep saying we will approve you get your block back if you give us so much money. And then they would go to the next operator with the same offer. It was chaotic and it pushes the safari prices through the roof. The five year lease (or longer) is a good idea. The reason for proposing one year leases is to make it easier to exort bribe money every year instead of one in five.

The main reason for the high fees in Tanzania is you pay all these fees that are supposed to bring about a certain result such as anti-poaching but it doesn't happen and so you have to do it again yourself and that costs money.

There are European ripoff artists. These are people who have a company in name only and a web site. But they do not actually have a concession leased or pay local taxes in Tanzania but they pretend they do. They charge adds ons, on the government trophies fees, etc but these extra fees just go into their own pockets.

The trend nowadays is for the small companies to get bought up by big ones who can afford to lose alot of money or who can use the loss as a tax write off in their own countries. Otherwise you have to mine the areas to make any money.

This being in a position of lose money is a very good thing. One major company has lost an average of US$ 300,000 a year since they have been there but they are doing real good work in terms of conservation.


VBR,


Ted Gorsline

quote:

They are not supposed to be there but they never leave because they give the government officials in charge of their removal cattle as bribes and and raise these cattle for them. These cattle then have calves which become the property of the government officials. Its like money in the bank

Sounds just like SW Ethiopia. Lots of cattle in Mago Nat'l Park that aren't supposed to be there. Likely the case all over Africa.

Rich Elliott

The conflict between nomadic cattle herders and farmers has been going on since biblical times. When I first went to the Kilombero Valley there were very few cattle herders but now they are common and fighting has broken out between them and the rice and corn farmers on whose land they run cattle.

Some of the nomadic cattle herders are very old fashioned people. They are in some ways very admirable. I had a client wound a very big lion that ran into long grass. It had been bumping off Mangatti cattle so two Mangatti came with me to help find him. One was a frail, grey haired little old man with a broad bladed spear completely willing to do battle with a lion that outweighed him by about four times. I couldn't help but admire him.

On the other hand, when Julius Nyere made it mandatory for Tanzanian children to go to school the Mangatti said no. When their kids were taken to school they came into the schools and cut thre throats of the teachers. Since then they haven't gone to school so when you talk to them you are not dealing with a Liberal arts major.

VBR,


Ted Gorsline

Ted, Thanks for the education, sad, but it all makes sense.

I guess the US isn't the only country having immigration woes.