MORE than 100 snares have been removed from Shongweni Dam in the last two months.
Despite this effort, two giraffe, two wildebeest, kudu, bushbuck and zebra have been poached on the reserve.
“The zebra was identified in time and, despite our best efforts, did not survive. Without 25 kms of protective fencing, the odds favour the poachers. We know who the poacher is, where he stays and we have been studying his movements. Our actions will be responsible and within the law, however one must realise that catching the poacher is simply dealing with the symptom and not the cause,” said the head of the Conservation Guardians, Greg Vogt.
Since the Highway Mail’s article on the reserve’s relaunch in September last year, incredible strides have been made by the team to rejuvenate it as well as include and empower the surrounding communities in the process.
“We have to provide alternative options to people using the reserve for subsistence purposes. One cannot simply go in and stop people, without offering alternatives,” said Vogt.
The reserve currently offers employment to 83 people, 20 directly and 63 indirectly.
The income generated through this employment is about R4.5 million per year for the neighbouring communities and supports, on average, eight dependents per person employed.
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“Our aquaculture project has the potential to support another 10 cooperatives of 10 people per cooperative, and our briquettes from water Hyacinth project has earmarked 10 cooperatives of five people per cooperative, another 50 people,” said Vogt.
“By these projects gaining traction, we can gain confidence and buy-in from the local communities and only then will we have a platform from which to stop poachers using the reserve as a source of food (subsistence poaching),” he said.
Vogt said that by then the reserve should be in a financial position to put up the required fencing to assist its anti-poaching initiatives.
“Our field rangers are working hard at taking snares down daily, and we will continue this effort while we develop the alternative options,” he said.
“The community’s support helps us in our endeavours to run the reserve sustainably. Please come and enjoy the reserve and its beauty. The more visitors we have enjoying the reserve, the more presence we have on the reserve and the more we distract those with alternative intentions,” he said.
Help show your support for the Shongweni Dam at its mountain climbing festival from 14 to 16 June.
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