Call to share conservation notes

RHINO poaching and wildlife trafficking can be better tackled if government departments and private and State conservation bodies interact better.

Having just returned from a US State Department-sponsored three-week trip, Lawrence Munro, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife’s Rhino Operations Unit Manager is emphatic.

‘There are no silos over there when it comes to addressing threatening issues.

‘The US places huge emphasis on lateral thinking and interaction amongst seemingly diverse groups.

‘Everyone pulls together. I think it’s a message we need to absorb in SA.”

Munro had engagements with more than 20 institutions, departments and organisations as well as the American public.

These were carried out through specific meetings, field trips, panel discussions and home hospitality visits.

He was one of 11 African delegates to attend ‘The International Leadership Programme’ – the first time this US State Department programme had been dedicated to wildlife trafficking and poaching.

Munro said Head of Departments (HOD’s) might consider being more flexible in allocating budgets.

‘Perhaps we can be more dynamic in spending government budgets.

‘For example, instead of allocating these in a routine fashion, we might provide a specific amenity, be it a clinic, school or locating a government building or office, to a community living close to a protected area.

‘There is such a strong connection between rural upliftment and the value people place on bio-diversity and protecting wildlife and open spaces.

‘The person working in social development or the education department, for example, can play as big a role in combating rhino poaching and trafficking as the conservationist can: it’s a case of understanding how everything meshes and how we can complement each other.’

This, he said, should not be construed as criticism but something constructive.

‘After all, conservation NGO’s and interest groups are often fiercely protective of their own terrain.’

Munro’s commentary coincided with what KZN MEC for Environmental Affairs and Agriculture said at the recent rhino horn poisoning event at Tembe Elephant Park.

Dr BM Radebe criticised civil servants, saying they were often ‘office observers’ of what was happening in the bush.

The US Consulate in Durban was a case in point where over the past two years they have reached out to Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife to see what synchronicity might exist between their own responsibilities and those of ‘Ezemvelo’.

US Consul General in Durban, Taylor Ruggles said he and Ezemvelo’s CEO Dr Mkhize had found much common ground.

‘We’ve noticed Dr Mkhize’s community emphasis.

‘His establishment of your Rhino Ambassador Programme and even the soccer tournament, the Ezemvelo Cup, really appealed to us.

‘We want to help – and we are working out how we can, even in the training or educational field.’