28 Mar 2019

Officials from Botswana and China have reiterated the two countries’ commitment to working together and other multilateral international stakeholders in combating wildlife crime.

These views were expressed during the Workshop on Addressing Wildlife Trafficking held at the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Gaborone on March 27.  Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism, Mr Thato Raphaka urged delegates from China to help Botswana in strengthen cooperation on combating wildlife crime.

“Illegal wildlife trade is not only a concern for conservation areas in the source country, but also extends to international criminal and terrorist syndicates, which threaten global peace.
Our country hosted the Kasane Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade, which had been convened to review the progress and challenges after the London declaration and determine steps to stem wildlife crime.
We need to tighten controls in source, transit and destination countries. Cooperation between our countries is important,” Mr Raphaka said.

Underscoring the Botswana government’s commitment to eradicating the market for illegal wildlife trade, Mr Raphaka said government had taken steps to work on improving the regulatory framework as well as practically working to strengthen law enforcement around wildlife crime.

He further said Botswana was working with regional and multilateral institutions to combat the import and export of illegal wildlife products, particularly ivory, by looking for means to cut the demand and supply for illegal wildlife products, something he said needed the cooperation of important international partners such as China.

He said his ministry was working with Financial Intelligence Agency and Directorate on Corruption and  Economic Crime (DCEC) to combat money laundering that involved the proceeds of wildlife crime, and had engaged international experts to work on capacity building on Botswana law enforcers in order to enhance crime investigation and prosecution of wildlife crimes.

The ambassador of China to Botswana, Mr Zhao Yanbo, said ‘a series of Workshops on Addressing Wildlife Trafficking has been held in different countries with presentations made for stakeholders to appreciate the laws of wildlife and conservation’.  
“We want our people to support Chinese work on conservation of endangered species.
There are many Chinese people in Botswana, some of them involved in business, and we need to raise the awareness on the need to protect wildlife in this country; we have to ensure that the laws of our countries are followed,” Mr Yanbo revealed.
Another speaker, Mr Peng Youdong, deputy administrator of National Forestry and Grassland Administration in China said his country wanted to actively partake in assisting the plight of African endangered species.
“In recent years, China-Africa cooperation in wildlife conservation has been developed.  

The Chinese government and private sector have provided funds, equipment, manpower and technology to support African countries in conservation of endangered species and habitats,” Mr Youdong said.
He further said that Botswana needed to be supported in its endeavor to protect wildlife species and thanked the country’s authorities for assistance on China’s work on the conservation of endangered species and compliance to CITES.  ends