03 Nov 2016

 On the last Sunday of October this year, the resort town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe saw an influx of foreign nationals on its soils.

Not that the town is not used to so many people, but only that this time the congestion came a little too early; almost two months before the peak season of December.

This time the gathering was a bit different.

Five member states that compose the Kavango-Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area (KAZA-TFCA) had gathered to reflect on the objectives of the multi-national group, and to reflect forward on ways in which man and animals can live together symbiotically, conserving natural resources at the same time.

One point that kept cropping time and again in various discussions around the symposium was that communities should be at the fore front of every decision that was made towards the conservation of natural resources as they were the ones on the ground and provided that it was done properly, it had the potential to uplift the economy of such communities.

 BaNgwato Regent , Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane concurred; “dikgosi are not new to the concept of natural resources conservation, wildlife included.

From time immemorial when dikgosi were still in control of such they knew when to open for the hunting season.

During the breeding season hunting was prohibited and for some species only a few males could be hunted.

So the current policies of establishing community trusts just took a leaf from that arrangement, only that the current one is more commercial to bring more tangible benefits to communities,” he said.

Concerning the Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust in his area, he said the agreement was that animals in the sanctuary should not be hunted, but that the sanctuary should rather act as a breeding place with the animals reintroduced back into the wilderness if overpopulation occurs.

“So far the Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust has been one of the most successful in the country.

It is run by the three villages of Paje, Serowe and Mabelapodi and occasionally, the profits from the trust are used to address the needs of the member villages,” he said.

Kgosi Kgamane also hailed the symposium and appreciated government for having found the need to bring tribal leaders whose areas are covered by the trans-frontier conservation area along.

His counterpart, Kgosi Gothaang Timex Moalosi of Sankoyo was also adamant that natural resources conservation was vital in the livelihoods of communities.

However, the youthful Kgosi called for more consultations with the communities so that they could be brought on board and own initiatives that were meant to promote human-wildlife co-existence.

Kgosi Moffat Sinvula applauded Botswana for establishing community trust as he said they have helped them a lot in as far as community emancipation is concerned.

He said community trusts have brought understanding and mindset change in people that natural resources were not a gift from God that will never go extinct.

Being the largest trans-frontier conservation landscape in the world with tentacles in five countries being Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, the KAZA-TFCA represents a bold commitment on the member states to conserve biodiversity and market it using nature-based tourism as the engine for rural economic growth and development. ENDS