25 Nov 2015

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Vincent Seretse says the suspension of hunting in Botswana was first Instituted through the Statutory Instrument No.2 of 2014 for a period of one year and during that time Parliament was informed that the order will be reviewed on annual basis in accordance with the powers conferred to the minister in section 45 of the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act of 1992.

Mr Seretse was responding to a parliamentary question on behalf of the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama, in which the Member of Parliament for Ghanzi North, Mr Noah Salakae wanted to know the status of the hunting ban which was introduced in 2014, whether the review was undertaken in accordance with the Wildlife and Conservation and National Parks Act (CAP 38:01) of 1992, and if so, that the Minister should provide the names of the people who carried out the review.

Mr Seretse said ministry reviewed the factors which led to the hunting ban in 2014 without any prejudice, adding that the review process took into account the fact that the Country-wide aerial animal counting was not yet complete.

“Therefore without the number of wild animals depicted from the results of aerial surveys conducted by the ministry it was difficult to make a rationale informed decision to lift the suspension, hence the decision to revoke Statutory Instrument No 2 of 2014 and declared no hunting in 2015 through Statutory Instrument No 2 of 2015,” he said. He said the public was kept informed about the status of the suspension of hunting in Botswana, through the available public platforms such as kgotla meetings and workshops.

Mr Seretse said  MWET has informed the public about the status of the suspension through the Statutory Instrument No.2 of 2015, wildlife Conservation and National Parks. (Prohibition of hunting, capturing and removal of animals) order published on the 9th January in the Government Gazzette.

“In addition, my ministry has been addressing Kgotla meetings country wide sensitising members of the public about the suspension of hunting in Botswana. Other forums were also used to communicate the status of hunting such as the World Wildlife Day Commemoration held on the 3rd March 2015 at Seboba Nature and Recreational in Kasane and the Wetlands and Wildlife Symposium held in Maun from the 17th to the 19th March 2015

Mr Salakae had also wanted to know whether the public was kept informed about the status of the hunting ban and further asked  the minister to state the last time such efforts were undertaken and the means of communications used. Ends