03 Oct 2016

The current surge in poaching and illegal trade in wildlife products poses a significant risk to the SADC region’s conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and to social and economic development.
This was said by Namibia’s World Wildlife Fund Trans boundary Conservation Planning Advisor, Dr Russell Taylor, during a panel discussion at the 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Sunday.
The ongoing international wildlife trade conference commenced from September 24, 2016 to October 5, 2016 and is aimed at ensuring that international trade in wildlife,  fauna and flora is conducted at sustainable levels.
Panelists discussed  cross-border law enforcement, and the use of technologies, support efforts to combat wildlife crime within SADC Trans frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs).
Additionally, the panel of experts, with a range of experience in law enforcement and combating wildlife crime in Southern Africa, also shared success stories and lessons learnt from TFCAs and other protected areas.
The SADC region, Dr Taylor said had rich diversity of wildlife resources, which included; forest, fish and marine life ‘and all of these resources are very much Trans boundary in nature.’
“So, they need to be managed and protected in a Trans boundary context. And usually when it comes to Trans boundary we face challenges on how do we do that across borders,” he added.
Past and recent successes in conservation, protected area management and the governance of natural resources, Dr Taylor said were being undermined and presented a threat to the achievement of conservation and development targets.
Therefore, to address this global crisis, he said there was need for a collective approach by the entire SADC region. To strengthen capacities in Africa, he stressed that there was need for cooperation between countries to reduce the threat of poaching and to tackle illegal trade in wildlife products, such as; ivory, horns and meat and skins.
More than 70 per cent of rural communities, Dr Taylor said lived and depended directly on the environment natural resources for their livelihoods, jobs and food security. Therefore, illegal wildlife trade in SADC, he said posed a threat on these communities’ lives.
Another panellist, Mozambique’s Protection and Law Enforcement director, Mr Carlos Lopes Pereira, said there was need for effective patrolling and effective management of law enforcement.
Solutions to wildlife crimes, Mr Pereira said could only be achieved when strategic issues, such as; community engagement, law enforcement and demand reduction of wildlife products, as well as key stakeholders, such as civil society and international donor community were brought on board.
For his part, Malawi/Zambia TFCAs coordinator, Mr Humphrey Nzima, said “lack of high level law enforcement cooperation framework is also a challenge in combating illegal wildlife trade.”
One other major challenge to addressing this global crisis, Mr Nzima said was that poachers continuously changed their tactics. Therefore, he advised that “knowing habitual and notorious poachers is important in addressing these wildlife crimes.”
“Just make sure you know and find out where these poachers live, their contacts, whom they communicate with, and so on,” he added.
This Conference of the Parties to CITES is held to evaluate progress made since 2013, as it convenes every three years, and to take decisions on what additional measures were needed to end illicit wildlife trafficking, among other things.
The conference is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention and comprises all its more than 180 member states. ENDS