Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Information & discussion on the Rhino Poaching Pandemic
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Toko
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Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Toko »

Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry for download here:

https://www.environment.gov.za/event/de ... g_workshop


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Toko »

Here the breakdown of a rhino breeding farm submitted by Hume

https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/de ... jfhume.pdf

The initial costs are high.

And this is what a community rhino breeding project is designed like: turn exsting land into a rhino breeding and horn producing industry run by community and get the funding from???????

https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/de ... roject.pdf

read page 14
Funding for Infrastructure of the farms from the Department of Environmental affairs EPIP
Animal loans request from Sanparks/DEA and Private owners
What exactly does a plan like this and a rhino farm such as Hume's contribute to conservation?


In my opinion nothing more or less than a cattle farm.


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Lisbeth »

To conservation, nothing! To the investors, if the commerce of rhino horns gets the go ahead, a fortune!

I have posed the following question more than once, but will try again, maybe somebody can give me the answer: Can young rhinos be returned to the wild?


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Moggiedog »

The link to all the presentations made to the committee of inquiry 25 - 27th March
https://www.environment.gov.za/event/de ... shopagenda

couple of glaring omissions of some organisations presentations not been uploaded. Hopefully it's a technical glitch and they will be uploaded very soon. Strangely enough the presentations not uploaded are mostly anti-trade presentations. But it is early days as the conference ended only a couple of hours ago.

Very interesting and frustrating few days - but at the same time, time well spent.


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Lisbeth »

Moggiedog wrote:The link to all the presentations made to the committee of inquiry 25 - 27th March
https://www.environment.gov.za/event/de ... shopagenda

couple of glaring omissions of some organisations presentations not been uploaded. Hopefully it's a technical glitch and they will be uploaded very soon. Strangely enough the presentations not uploaded are mostly anti-trade presentations. But it is early days as the conference ended only a couple of hours ago.

Very interesting and frustrating few days - but at the same time, time well spent.
The link has already been posted at the top of the page! Thank you for your comments though \O


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

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https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/de ... sile_0.pdf

Submission by TRAFFIC

Recommendations for South Africa
• The implementation of a secure, national, electronic permit system for all activities related to threatened and protected species, specifically rhinos
• The mandatory registration, marking and DNA sampling of all legally-owned or -held rhino horn stocks
• The importance of developing and implementing bilateral treaties to promote collaborative law enforcement action
• The necessity of ensuring that appropriate penalties that serve as a deterrent are given to those convicted of rhino crimes
• The need to tighten law-enforcement activities at all ports of entry and exit from South Africa to better detect the illegal movement of rhino horn
• The importance of effective monitoring and regulation of sport hunting of rhinos
• The requirement for better regulation of professionals within the wildlife industry


Progress
Political Will
The need for strong political will to make addressing rhino crime a non-negotiable, high-profile national priority.
As the epicentre of the current rhino crisis, South Africa conspicuously absent at:
 United Nations events to elevate wildlife crime to serious crime and a top-level concern at the international level in September 2013,
 the Botswana government/IUCN-convened African Elephant Summit in December 2013, or
 the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade in February 2014
South Africa needs to demonstrate leadership and be a strong voice and driver for change.

Capacity and Resource Constraints
The requirement to address capacity and resource constraints affecting South Africa’s conservation authorities at national, provincial and site levels:
While the situation in South Africa’s protected areas remains serious, as enforcement effort increases so poaching surges on private land, placing an impossible financial burden on private rhino owners including those involved in non consumptive eco-tourism. Unable to pay for expensive anti-poaching measures rhinos are sold and this undermines the lucrative eco-tourism business, a valuable source of income to the country. South Africa continues to fail its private owners i.t.o law
enforcement capacity and resources.
Ironically the source of many illegal horns to date has been from poorly documented private horn stockpiles and the continuing poor management will simply continue to undermine conservation efforts and any attempt to legalise trade.

Integrated Permit System
Secure, national, electronic permit system for all activities related to threatened and protected species, specifically rhinos.
Since the 1996 report “South Africa’s Wildlife Trade at the Crossroads”, TRAFFIC has urged the Department of Environmental Affairs to develop a national, integrated, electronic permitting system to authorize trade and monitor restricted activities related to threatened and protected species.
 In 2000, such a system was developed by a DANIDA-funded project but never implemented. Why?
 This issue has remained unresolved for decades and is a serious blemish on South Africa's administration of CITES.
 DEA remains derelict in fulfilling this critical need despite repeated promises and constructive contributions by organisations such as TRAFFIC.
 Understanding South Africa’s wildlife trade remains clouded by delays, abuse and miscommunication within the current permitting structure, providing loopholes and opportunities for illegal trade or unintended activities for many species and wildlife products to proliferate.
 South Africa must resolve this serious deficiency as a matter of urgency and demonstrate that an effective system is at hand as a prerequisite before any consideration of a legal trade in rhino horn.

Monitoring and Regulation
The importance of effective monitoring and regulation of sport hunting of rhinos:
Amendments to Norms and Standards for trophy hunting of White Rhinos: not effectively closed loopholes exploited in the past by those engaged in “pseudohunting”.
The case of Czech hunters recruited by Vietnamese operatives to hunt rhino in South Africa for commercial trade purposes is a case in point
Furthermore, it is of concern that the South African CITES Management Authority was unable to provide a full list of Czech hunters who were granted rhino hunting permits in South Africa nearly two years after first requested to assist the Czech government's investigation.
South Africa's hunting data remains obscure and unavailable clouding efforts to track developments in the hunting industry. Some sources have indicated that whilst Czech hunters are no longer used to hunt rhino in South Africa, individuals from other European countries have been recruited to take their place. The current pattern of rhino hunting remains highly suspect.


Mandatory registration, marking and DNA sampling
The mandatory registration, marking and DNA sampling of all legally-owned or -held rhino horn stocks.
Amended Norms and Standards legally mandate owners or custodians of rhino horn to mark, micro-chip, register and take DNA samples from any horns in their possession.
But the status of rhino horn possession in the private sector remains unknown with apparent discrepancies. This issue has been noted in the CITES reports prepared by TRAFFIC and IUCN.
 A robust rhino horn stock management system needs to be in place as a prerequisite before any consideration of a legal trade in rhino horn.

Bi-lateral LE Treaties
The importance of developing and implementing bilateral treaties to promote collaborative law enforcement action.
South Africa has established a series of bilateral Memorandum of Understanding for law enforcement co-operation with Viet Nam and Mozambique, but are they being used effectively to support scaled-up law enforcement?
TRAFFIC remains concerned that these MoUs are only serving a political purpose and not being used in a meaningful way to support law enforcement, including the arrest and prosecution of individuals implicated in illegal rhino horn trading.
 South Africa must use these channels to secure arrests, support effective prosecutions or extradite transnational criminals implicated in rhino horn trade crime

Deterrent Penalties
The necessity of ensuring that appropriate penalties that serve as a deterrent are given to those convicted of rhino crimes.
South Africa has issued some of the most stringent sentences for illegal trafficking in rhino horn, for example the 30-year sentence meted out to Chumlong Lemthongthai from Thailand.
But subsequent court actions have reduced these penalties considerably. It is not clear why this has happened and it sends a message that South Africa is 'pulling back' on penalties for wildlife trade crime at a time when the rest of the world is moving in the opposite direction. Why?
Continuing discrepancies in the issuance of bail to those charged with serious rhino crime also remains an issue of concern.

Legal Access to Permits
The importance of denying those charged with outstanding rhino crime cases continued legal access to permits for restricted activities with TOPS species, especially where rhinos are concerned:
Several notorious members of the game ranching industry currently awaiting trial for rhino crimes remain out on bail and continue to receive permits to buy, sell, hunt and
dehorn rhinos, despite being accused of involvement in illegal activities associated with these very actions.
Constitutional issues of "innocent until proven guilty" are valid, but legal precedents in South Africa could change status quo.
Armed Robbery: Offenders can be denied permits for purchase of a guns;
Driving under the influence: Offenders can have license renewal blocked; and
Teachers charged with sex offences involving minors can be denied teaching opportunities until a final verdict is rendered.
South Africa needs to Investigate these precedents ito of rhino crime.

Investigation Capacity
The imperative of improving scene of crime investigative capacity and intelligence gathering and analysis:
South Africa - large numbers of arrests, but few higher-level players "middlemen" or "kingpins" are apprehended.
Language barriers: Documents, cell phones and computers seized in conjunction with rhino horn crime and in Chinese or Vietnamese is typically never analysed as a proactive part of the investigation. It is believed that much valuable and relevant information is lost through the lack of capacity to work in foreign languages.
South Africa must improve its technical investigative skills

Regulation of Wildlife Industry
The requirement for better regulation of professionals within the wildlife industry:
This issue remains unresolved with many wildlife professionals, including professional hunters, hunting outfitters, wildlife veterinarians and game capture operators, arrested in conjunction with rhino crime still operating within the industry. So far self-regulating private sector structures have been insufficient to prevent unethical practices. There may also be a critical need for tighter controls on access to scheduled veterinary medicines to prevent their use in criminal activities.
South Africa needs to resolve unethical conduct or it will continue to undermine legal rhino conservation activities

Illegal rhino horn trade: ‘Pseudo hunting’
A resolved issue ? ‘Pseudo hunting’ has gone from Vietnamese… to Thai prostitutes … to Czech Republic hunters … to where?
Rumours indicate Ukraine and Poland??
 Current hunting permit data is not available and a transparent means to track rhino hunting developments is not at hand.
 We don’t need nominal information but the nationality of the hunters being issued permits is often all that is required to understand questionable shifts in hunting patterns.
 South Africa is still not effectively policing the issuance of hunting permits and the export of hunting trophies.
 We hear reports that, for example, North West province, has not issued any hunting permits in recent years but wonder if that is true or failure to report to the
central government?

Legal Commercial Trade
The need for an objective and strategic approach to assess the long-term outcomes of any future interventions in relation to global rhino conservation objectives and trade.
The key argument behind legalised trade is that it will reduce poaching pressure on rhinos by meeting demand now being serviced with the horns from poached animals. Unfortunately, that is not a guaranteed outcome, especially as we do not clearly understand the fundamentals of current demand, including the role of speculation and stockpiling in the trade.
 Because of these knowledge gaps, great caution needs to be exercised in any legal trade scenario.
There are many examples where legal and illegal trades end up co-existing in parallel without reducing illegal off-take for the affected species:
 South Africa’s abalone trade is a classic example, with illegal harvest swamping the legal quota system to the point of collapse of the wild resource.
 Thailand’s legal crocodile leather trade from ranched or farmed animals has not safeguarded the existence of the now virtually extinct Siamese crocodile in the wild.
 Caution: If those who sell to consumers have access to both legal and illegal sources, manipulation of supply and price to their benefit, not the resource, is possible.

Lawful trade presupposes an agreed trading system under which producers and consumers, regulatory roles and responsibilities, legal do’s and don’t’s, and mechanisms for
monitoring compliance, transparency and accountability must all be clearly delineated.

The discussion presently remains in the abstract and rooted in theory. Fundamental considerations -- like the control framework, the process for identifying legitimate stakeholders, or the means for preventing rhino horns from illegal sources infiltrating the legal market -- remain unarticulated.

 TRAFFIC reserves judgement until a full proposal is at hand, but strongly believes that the legal control environment in South Africa remains unacceptably inadequate at the present time.


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Toko »

This presentations calls for community conservancies as the final solution

https://www.environment.gov.za/sites/de ... orrest.pdf
COMMUNITY CONSERVANCIES IN NAMIBIA PROVIDES A REALISTIC SOLUTION FOR COMMUNITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA
• Community Conservancies that rely on the sustainable utilization of wildlife now make up 19% of the country.
• The wildlife populations in them continue to increase.
• The area under Community Conservancies continues to increase.

This article however paints a different scenario

http://www.namibian.com.na/indexx.php?i ... ory_detail

End of the game
CHRISTIAAN BAKKES



IT was a time to rejoice. It seemed to be the only logical way forward. The path had been laid out for us. The truth shone as clear as an unmuddied lake. We were bright-eyed and idealistic. Inspired and energetic. A brave new world.
It was the year 1995.

I had just joined Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC), a WWF-funded NGO that was charged with the responsibility of empowering local rural communities through conservation. The goal was to establish communal conservancies that would enable the people to take ownership of their wildlife and natural resources.
The year 1995 was also a time of good rain. The best in human memory. Springbok fawns abounded across the veld.
It was with pride that I drove my bakkie from village to village, seeking out the community game guards. I was amazed by the beauty of the landscape and the free-ranging wildlife. I was especially proud of the panda sticker on the bakkie door.
For me too it was a new beginning. I hailed from the Kruger Park where local people were kept away from wildlife with fences and guns. I was born into and benefited from an oppressive system. It was time to make amends. Give something back.
We were going to make impoverished rural communities benefit from their wildlife. At the same time we were going to conserve that same wildlife. I was part of that process.
For the last twenty years I was part of that process. I still am.
I remember the exciting conception period. Befriending the community members by keeping elephants out of their meagre fields. Winning their trust by saving their crops. Training community game guards and doing game counts.
The communal conservancy legislation was passed through parliament in 1996.
After three years in IRDNC I joined a safari company in the Kunene region. I witnessed game lodges springing up all over communal lands. I saw agreements between conservancies and tour companies. Joint ventures for the benefit of all. Private operators would pay communities for the privilege of tourism on their land. Local community members would be employed and trained and empowered. I saw many young men and women grow into highly professional adults. It was a wonderful period of growth. It felt good.
The conservancy policy went even further. The conservancies were granted hunting rights. The conservancies made agreements with professional hunting enterprises. The conservancy members could also hunt for the pot and own use.
This was after game counts were conducted and quotas were worked out.
The good rains of 1995 turned into a wet cycle that lasted until 2011. It was a time of bounty. Plains game proliferated and black rhino numbers increased. More newborn elephant calves were noted among the small desert-adapted herds. The desert lion made a remarkable comeback. What a pleasure it was to take foreign travellers on a safari through this arid African Eden.
Soon the world took notice. Conservation awards started pouring in. Namibia was hailed as the world leader in community-based conservation.
There was enough for everybody. The money came trickling in. First slowly and then a little faster.
It was never a flood. But it was enough to whet the appetite for more.
Promises of wealth and riches created expectations. The expectations became too big. Then the rot set in.
The first signs of the decimation of wildlife came with the introduction of the shoot and sell policy. I first encountered it on the Giribes plains on the boundary of the Purros and Sesfontein conservancies. In this policy, outside contractors get permission to shoot plains game on a large scale to supply their butcheries elsewhere. This seemed to be a profitable venture for the conservancies.
I saw freezer trucks parked on the plains while gemsbok, springbok and zebra were being slaughtered and loaded. Bakkies were driving in different directions, returning with dead animals to be transported. On my second encounter with these shooting teams, the back registration plates of the freezer trucks were covered with duct tape.
In 2010, I encountered such a shooting party on the border of the Skeleton Coast Park. It was late November and a desert rain shower transformed the gravel plains to a green flush. There was a concentration of gemsbok, including several nursery herds. The cows had already given birth and it was no time or place to hunt gemsbok. The shooting parties of three bakkies were driving off-road and indiscriminately shooting into these herds. I reported this to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism and was assured that the practice was perfectly legal. There was no MET official present during the shoot.
Later there were newspaper reports of a large quantity of dead zebras being left out in the sun to rot, after one of these freezer trucks broke down.
The road between Sesfontein and Purros is a beautiful drive. It used to abound with gemsbok and springbok. After shoot and sell was introduced, wildlife visibly diminished.
Elsewhere, signs of this practice also became visible.
Another alarming occurrence was the high mortality rate of elephants in the Purros conservancy. A recent study argues that the Hoarusib - Hoanib river elephant population has declined by 30% in the last 10 years. At least two cows and one bull were shot illegally. Another was wounded, recovered and then disappeared. Another was shot after it killed a tourist at a campsite. One died of complications with a radio collar. Orphaned calves disappeared and three elephants have emigrated upriver. The total resident elephant population at Purros at present numbers six individuals.
Purros has always served as a model of people and elephant co-existing and benefiting each other through tourism. That does not seem to be the case any more.
Black rhino poaching in the communal areas started in December 2012. The last isolated incident before that was two decades ago. The number of poached rhinos varies from source to source, the most conservative number being 18 in the Palmwag and Etendeka concessions and four more in the Uukwaluudhi conservancy to the north-east. I do not speak for poached rhinos outside the communal lands. The current spate of poaching has sparked bitter debate and accusations and counter-accusations. I will not dwell on that.
The facts are that only one arrest and conviction had been made - of a poacher caught at the beginning of the onslaught. Evidence points towards organised crime and intimidation. There is a cloak of silence over events. It seems as if conservancy or community members are harbouring criminals. Critically endangered species that stand as symbols of successful community-based conservation are being slaughtered. Why now? Why after all these successes?
Where have we gone wrong? Where are the flaws in our system?
When I studied nature conservation in the mid-eighties it was drummed into our heads: “If it pays it stays.”
It seems that even for conservationists, wildlife and wilderness have no place if they cannot be of financial value to people. Never was this doctrine more evident than in community-based conservation in Namibia. It is all about money.
Financial benefits to the community were the focus. National pride, ethics, aesthetics and sound ecological practices shared a sad second place. If any place at all.

Everything must have a price tag

Our relentless quest for financial benefit bred one thing: GREED.
It set the stage for disaster. Enter a higher bidder and all principles go out the window.
The higher bidder has entered. Unscrupulous foreign investors, with a lot of financial backing, have come with a new incentive: wildlife products. Rhino horn, ivory, pangolin, lion bones, meat, hides, organs. Everything now has a higher price. It is “good business”.
Will we stand up to this new threat? Will good people be bought and corrupted? Will our ethics and principles and our connection to the wilderness prevail?
Our clinical and non-emotional approach towards wildlife and wilderness will not be enough to stem the new wave of exploitation. We must look into our hearts again. We must remember that we are part of nature. Not owners and manipulators. This earth will not tolerate our greed forever.
We as Namibians stand to lose our reputation as splendid conservationists. A reputation means nothing until you have lost it.
The other day we travelled for several days around the Brandberg. It is a magnificent area. Pristine arid habitat. We travelled through four communal conservancies. It was an area renowned for its desert-adapted wildlife. The ancient art on its rock faces bears testimony to that. It is also known as the most bio-diverse place in Namibia. The first rains have fallen and the grass was in seed. Our total game count was: Two Cape fox, three springbok and eight giraffe.
It seems we are failing.


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Richprins »

Thanks, Moggie! O0

Did you say anything as AW member? --00--


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Lisbeth »

believes that the legal control environment in South Africa remains unacceptably inadequate at the present time.
No doubt about that!


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Re: Stakeholder Presentations to the Committee of Inquiry

Post by Lisbeth »

Toko's last posted article says it all.

Finally work for everybody, food for everybody and in a good an honest ways. Finally you have got enough to live a decent life!

All of a sudden it is not enough, the taste of money makes you want more and all the ethics, morals and good intentions fly out of the window and get replaced by greed for more, more and more. It will only be a short living wealth, because what could have lasted and grown for generation gets swept away during a few years and there is nothing that can replace it.

What a sad story of success and decline :-(


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