Rhino not extinct on her watch, says minister
Despite the high number of poached rhino for 2014 , minister Edna Molewa assured journalists that this species will not be poached to extinction, "not on our watch," she said.
SKUKUZA – The allocation of almost 70% of aR232.2m grant to combat rhino poaching was made public today by the minister of water and environmental affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa, during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the republic of Mozambique.
Molewa and the Mozambican minister of tourism, Mr Carvalho Muaria today signed the MoU in the field of biodiversity conservation and management.
The signing of this document signals a strengthening of relations between the two countries to enhance the protection of endangered species, Molewa said. It ensures a common and coordinated management approach for the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a conservancy that links the Kruger National Park (KNP) with the Limpopo National Park (LNP).
However, this act does not mean that an action plan will soon be implemented, media were informed. Plans for joint cross-border operations will now commence, Molewa responded to media questions regarding the timeframe of implementation. She added that several ministries of both countries were involved.
Earlier this year, the Dutch Postcode Lottery donated R217 million, with R15.2 million being contributed by the Swedish Postcode Lottery, towards the fight against rhino poaching. The grant was secured by the Peace Parks Foundation responsible for managing the development of the LNP.
In light of the cooperation between South Africa and Mozambique, the following allocations from this grant were made public today, namely:
– R24.9m has been allocated for use by the Mozambican government for strengthening its counter-intelligence capacity, to enhance communication networks, train field rangers and deploy sniffer dogs
– R68m will be allocated for anti-poaching measures by the KNP
– R25m has been set aside for law enforcement
– R35m will be utilised for determination and techniques to devalue rhino horn.
The main area of cooperation contained within the MoU include among others:
– Biodiversity management, conservation and protection
– Promotion of biodiversity sustainable use as an integral part of conservation of species and ecosystems
– Compliance with CITES and other relevant international and regional conventions
– Biodiversity law enforcement
– Strengthen cooperation through exchange of information, intelligence, best practice and research
There have been 39 arrests in the KNP this year and 93 nationally. A total of 293 known rhino have been poached this year alone, 185 in the KNP.
Muaria declared that 46 poachers had been arrested in Mozambique this year and 25 killed. He said that his country wanted to stop more of its citizens from being killed in the KNP for poaching.
