Counter Poaching Efforts

[Sprocky]

2014-02-02 21:26

Mbombela - Organisations that want to help fight rhino poaching have until 7 February to provide government with their suggested anti-poaching strategies.

The department of environmental affairs has urged all its partners to review South Africa's current strategy after 86 of the endangered animals were killed in January alone. Last year was the worst on record when 1004 rhinos were slaughtered.

"The aim of this [review] process is to identify priority areas that require additional assistance and gaps that must be addressed," said DEA spokesperson Albi Modise.

He said the department also hoped to identify opportunities to collaborate, cooperate or consolidate existing projects and initiatives with its partners.

The department's partners include NGOs, non-profit organisations, fund raisers, rhino conservation and anti-poaching service providers and donors involved in rhino-related projects.

Modise said 21 suspected poachers have already been arrested this year in connection with the 86 rhinos that were poached since the beginning of January. Last year, 343 suspects were arrested.

Like in 2013, most of the rhino killed so far this year, or 63, were killed in the Kruger National Park.

Eight were poached in KwaZulu-Natal, six in Limpopo, four in the Free State, three in Mpumalanga and two in the North West.

Both South Africans and members of the international community are being encouraged to report information relating to rhino poaching and related tip-offs to the anonymous tip-off lines 0800 205 005, 08600 10111 or Crime-Line on 32211.


- African Eye

[Richprins]

No contact details? Surely that should have been part of the release?

[vinkie]

Prince Charles and Prince William Speak Out Against Poaching and Illegal Wildlife Trade

Ahead of the London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade on Thursday, Britain's Prince Charles and Prince William released a video urging greater global efforts to stop the illegal wildlife trade.
The video and upcoming conference come at a time of unprecedented poaching. Between 2007 and 2012, rhino poaching increased 5,000 percent, CNN reports, and just last year one rhino was killed in Africa every 11 hours, according to The Zoological Society of London.

Elephants are facing grim odds as well, with more than 10 percent of Africa's elephant population being slaughtered for ivory in the last two years alone, the ZSL reports.

The $17 billion-per-year international wildlife crime trade is the world's fourth largest illegal activity, behind drug trafficking, the illegal arms trade and human trafficking, according to Mary Rice, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, which ahead of Thursday's conference released a report filled with wildlife crime case studies.

Funds from wildlife crime and related forest crimes are used to fund insurgents, destabilize governments and have been linked to terrorism, Rice said last week in a video statement.

Individuals and organizations engaged in wildlife crime are incentivized by the high-reward, low-risk nature of the trade, Rice added, noting that there is a lot than can be done to invert the current nature of the system.

"We have come together to lend our voices to the growing global effort to combat the illegal wildlife trade, a trade that has reached such unprecedented levels of killing and related violence that it now poses a grave threat not only to the survival of some of the world's most treasured species, but also to economic and political stability in many areas around the world," Prince Charles said in his video statement.

"I have said before that we must treat the illegal wildlife trade as a battle, because it is precisely that," Charles said. "Organized bands of criminals are stealing and slaughtering elephants, rhinoceros and tigers, as well as large numbers of other species, in a way that has never been seen before, pushing many species to the brink of extinction."

Prince William noted the importance of preserving landscapes and ecosystems for future generations.

"It is nothing less than immoral that they are losing their birthright to fuel the greed of international criminals," he said. "We have to be the generation that stopped the illegal wildlife trade and secured the futureof these magnificent animals and their habitats, for if we fail, it will be too late."

Video Charles and William's anti-poaching message

source: natureworldnews.com

[Lisbeth]

VIDEO

STAR POWER

Chan’s influence was demonstrated recently by his association with a campaign to save sharks. It resulted in an 18% drop in the consumption of shark fin soup in China. Chan is particularly popular in Vietnam, a region largely responsible for the recent escalation in rhino poaching due to Vietnam’s rising wealth. It might very well be star power which is needed to change Vietnamese attitudes towards the endangered animal.

The campaign which includes a 40 second film and a series of billboards will be released in China after today’s launch and converted to Vietnamese for release there in March. The film called “Tools of the Trade” features Chan dodging weapons as a ‘rhino’ is built out of the dangerous tools of the poaching trade. After the ‘rhino’ is assembled, it collapses under its own weight, and a live rhino (nicknamed “Spike”) rises from the pile of weaponry. The message closes as Chan appeals to viewers not to buy rhino horn products. The film will also been released online in Mandarin, Vietnamese and English (seen here).

INTERNATIONAL EFFORT

The campaign comes at a time when there is increased international effort to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. Yesterday the White House announced a ban on ivory trade, significant because the USA is the second largest ivory market after China. On the same day, the Duke of Cambridge launched a new organisation, United for Wildlife, to combat illegal trade and today, African heads of state and officials from 50 countries gathered in London for a conference on illegal wildlife trade where the leaders of Botswana, Gabon, Chad and Tanzania pledged to honour a 10 year moratorium on sales of ivory.

In a speech at the conference, the Duke of Cambridge emphasised the scale of illegal wildlife. “The trade is now the fourth most lucrative crime after drugs, arms and human trafficking,” he said. He described the human cost with over a thousand rangers killed in the last ten years and every week another two rangers murdered by poachers, adding, “there is also evidence that poacher’s activities are funding international terrorism.” The Duke also made a point of thanking Jackie Chan for his help in this issue.

Can the martial arts star really combat rhino poaching? Not on the killing grounds of Africa, but Chan’s celebrity firepower might go some way to tackling the issue at it’s very core, in the minds of Asians.

“Tools of the Trade” was a released by WildAid and African Wildlife Foundation.

Production was by Homestead Productions with CGI by Quietman.

[nan]

at last something positive... there

[Richprins]

He absolutely can, IMO!

Thanks, Lis!

[Bushcraft]

Thanks Lis for this info

[Lisbeth]

You are welcome

[Lisbeth]

17 MAR 2014 10:08

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation (HGBF), a private foundation in the US; the Nature Conservation Trust (NCT), a South African public benefit organisation (PBO); and South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced an historic R255 million, three-year initiative to combat rhino poaching in Kruger National Park and test anti-poaching tactics that can be applied in other regions of Africa, where poaching can be a source of funding for armed groups. The announcement was made at the Rosebank office of Standard Bank, which also announced its own support for the initiative by providing favorable banking fees and interest on the funds which they will hold.



Howard G Buffett, Howard G. Buffett Foundation (HGBF). Image courtesy of APO
The effort in the Kruger National Park will create an Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ) using sophisticated detection and tracking equipment and infrastructure on the ground and in the air; elite canine units and highly-trained ranger teams; and improved intelligence gathering and observation and surveillance systems. Kruger is currently home to over 40% of the world's remaining 22,000 rhinos, the largest single population of rhinos in the world.

Illicit criminal networks

Since January 2010, 1,383 rhinos have been poached from Kruger National Park, part of a larger assault that resulted in 2,368 rhinos poached in South Africa over the past few years. In some areas of Africa, entire populations of rhino have been eliminated.

Kruger's poaching problem is fueled mainly by illicit criminal networks in Mozambique, South Africa, and East Asia, but evidence suggests that armed groups elsewhere in Africa derive significant funding from poaching activities. Kruger's IPZ will also serve as a testing ground to inform targeted efforts to combat poaching in these other African regions.

"SANParks, thanks to the leadership of David Mabunda, and Kruger National Park, under the direction of General Johan Jooste, provide a unique opportunity to test new technology and new ideas within the best operating national parks system on the continent," said NCT Chairman and HGBF CEO Howard G. Buffett. "This effort joins our foundation's historic support for conservation with our current focus on conflict mitigation in Africa, particularly in the Great Lakes region."

"The scale, complexity, and strategic value of this initiative is truly unprecedented for SANParks, and we believe will be transformative in our ongoing efforts to address poaching and the decimation of the rhino population in Kruger National Park," said SANParks CEO David Mabunda. "More importantly, the lessons we hope to learn and share across SANParks and the continent will, we believe, develop new and more effective ways to combat illicit wildlife trade, particularly where it is financing armed groups."

Supporting conservation in Africa

The Leadership for Conservation in Africa (LCA), led by its South African-based CEO Chris Marais, will provide advisory and advocacy support for the collaboration. NCT and HGBF have a long history of support for conservation in Africa.

NCT, with 100% of its funding provided by HGBF, created the Jubatus Cheetah Reserve in 2001 and the Ukulima Research Farm in 2007, both located in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Through its direct investments and support for NCT, HGBF has, prior to this announcement, committed over R485 million in South Africa for a range of conservation and agriculture development activities including strengthening environmental governance; carnivore research in the Shashe/Limpopo Trans-Frontier Conservation region; preservation of natural resources; cheetah research and regional planning for cheetah conservation; development of agricultural strategies and production of improved seed for smallholder farmers.

HGBF has committed an additional R1.9 billion in support of its Africa Great Lakes Peace Initiative, which also includes funding for anti-poaching efforts designed to interrupt the capital flow to armed groups.

Distributed by APO (African Press Organisation)

http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196 ... .html#more

[Richprins]

http://lowvelder.co.za/59304/buffett-fo ... servation/

JOHANNESBURG – South African National Parks (SANParks) yesterday announced an historic RAND 255 million (USD $23.7 million) donation by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation (HGBF).

This is a three-year initiative to combat rhino poaching in Kruger National Park and test anti-poaching tactics that can be applied in other regions of Africa, where poaching can be a source of funding for armed groups. The announcement was made at the Rosebank office of Standard Bank, which also announced its own support for the initiative by providing favorable banking fees and interest on the funds which they will hold.

Kruger is currently home to over 40% of the world’s remaining 22,000 rhinos, the largest single population of rhinos in the world. Since January 2010, 1,383 rhinos have been poached from Kruger National Park, part of a larger assault that resulted in 2,368 rhinos poached in South Africa over the past few years. In some areas of Africa, entire populations of rhino have been eliminated.

Kruger’s poaching problem is fueled mainly by illicit criminal networks in Mozambique, South Africa, and East Asia, but evidence suggests that armed groups elsewhere in Africa derive significant funding from poaching activities. Kruger’s IPZ will also serve as a testing ground to inform targeted efforts to combat poaching in these other African regions.

”SANParks, thanks to the leadership of David Mabunda, and Kruger National Park, under the direction of General Johan Jooste, provide a unique opportunity to test new technology and new ideas within the best operating national parks system on the continent,” said NCT Chairman and HGBF CEO Howard G. Buffett. “This effort joins our foundation’s historic support for conservation with our current focus on conflict mitigation in Africa, particularly in the Great Lakes region.”

”The scale, complexity, and strategic value of this initiative is truly unprecedented for SANParks, and we believe will be transformative in our ongoing efforts to address poaching and the decimation of the rhino population in Kruger National Park,” said SANParks CEO David Mabunda. “More importantly, the lessons we hope to learn and share across SANParks and the continent will, we believe, develop new and more effective ways to combat illicit wildlife trade, particularly where it is financing armed groups.”

based CEO Chris Marais, will provide advisory and advocacy support for the collaboration. NCT and HGBF have a long history of support for conservation in Africa. NCT, with 100% of its funding provided by HGBF, created the Jubatus Cheetah Reserve in 2001 and the Ukulima Research Farm in 2007, both located in Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Through its direct investments and support for NCT, HGBF has, prior to this announcement, committed over RAND 485 million (USD $45 million) in South Africa for a range of conservation and agriculture development activities including strengthening environmental governance; carnivore research in the Shashe/Limpopo Trans-Frontier Conservation region; preservation of natural resources; cheetah research and regional planning for cheetah conservation; development of agricultural strategies and production of improved seed for smallholder farmers.

HGBF has committed an additional RAND 1.9 billion (USD $175 million) in support of its Africa Great Lakes Peace Initiative, which also includes funding for anti-poaching efforts designed to interrupt the capital flow to armed groups.