06 May 2019

Southern African states have  been asked to speak with one voice on regional elephants in order to curb hostility from the international community at the upcoming Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) conference of parties.

The call was made by Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Kitso Mokaila in Kasane May 6 at the ministers’ meeting in preparation for May 7 ’s  elephant summit.

For conservation efforts to bear fruit, he said, the region should agree on international engagement framework as it was evident that individual states argued for sustainable utilisation of wildlife resources, which were in abundance and being countered on multiple fronts.

“We as a region have become victims of our own success and this calls for concerted efforts in order for us to make a head way and we call upon the international community to respect our community rooted approaches,” he said.

He said he was convinced that southern African elephant range states had an obligation to resolutely and collectively work together to find long lasting management solutions for the region’s elephants. 

 Mr Mokaila stressed that African elephant management called for concerted regional efforts.

   He said since the region had the majority of the global elephant population, it was only through effective trans-boundary management that the fruits of its efforts might be realised.

The summit, he said, provided an invaluable opportunity to agree on actions and effective trans-boundary initiatives that would address the challenges faced in the management of the elephants.   

Mr Mokaila said initiatives such as the Kavango-Zambezi (KAZA) and the Greater Mapungubgwe Trans-frontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) would be instrumental in helping to come up with long term planning, conducting joint aerial surveys, facilitating elephants’ free movement and tracking numbers as well as distribution of trans-border elephant populations.

The summit’s theme, “Towards a Common Vision for the management of our elephants”, he said, was appropriate as elephants knew no boundaries.

Mr Mokaila further said the summit was expected to generate a better understanding of elephant management and associated challenges as well as a series of measures for addressing the challenges more efficiently and effectively.

He informed his audience that Botswana’s elephant population had increased from an estimated 55 000 in 1991 to the current 160 000.

 “This increase has come up with associated challenges and one major challenge that is haunting us is human-elephant conflict,” he said.

While the elephant range had increased over the years, Minister Mokaila said the demand for agricultural land was equally increasing and had resulted in growing competition between people and wildlife for living space.

“In the process people lose lives, crops and agricultural infrastructure and property which are destroyed by elephants and this tends to reverse the strides our governments have made in improving the livelihoods of our communities,” he said. 

He said it would be a failure on the part of regional governments if they did not address the state of affairs.

Another challenge associated with the elephant population, he said, was the illegal off-take which had been the focus for many gatherings in the past. 

In addition, he said poaching was increasing which called for local communities to be engaged to close all poaching loopholes which threatened successful conservation.

The ministers’ meeting was also attended by Angolan Minister of Environments Paula Cristina Coelho, Minister of Environment of Zambia, Dr Charles Banda, Ms Prisca Mufamira and Mr Pohamba Chiketa who are Environment ministers of Zimbabwe and Namibia respectively. ENDS