Online Reporter
Caroline Washaya-Moyo
Correspondent
Wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe and Africa in general, has for long been deep-rooted in traditional methods.
Without these traditional methods, modern society would not be having the animals, fish and tree species (flora and fauna) we are enjoying.
Suffice to say, even modern scientific methods were developed mainly as an improvement to already existing traditional methods.
At the core of the traditional wildlife management matrix, chiefs were the custodians of not only their people, but the flora and fauna, and took informed authoritative positions on certain animal and tree species, and subsequently censured offenders.
In chiefdoms, every animal and tree, was linked to the way of life of the people, to their taboos, (dos and don’ts) and had effects on life-saving essentials like rainfall, droughts and harvests.
Flora and fauna were linked to real life. In tradition, conservation is life. It is a way of life and could not be practiced as a standalone.
Chief Fortune Charumbira, the former president of Chief’s Council, says the challenge is thinking that science is different from the traditional methods of managing wildlife, and yet this has been practiced since time immemorial. Chiefs in any community had the power to approve any hunt, and take action against offenders.
The fact that chiefs and the communities had the power over the management of wildlife ensured that harvesting of the resource was done in a sustainable manner because communities knew that over-harvesting would result in them starving.
It was not every day that hunting which was mainly for the pot, was allowed, but there were seasons for it, hence communities would dry their meat to feed their families in lean times.
Added to that, traditional leaders introduced hunting seasons to allow for the resource to recover.
Not all animal species were allowed to be hunted. Species such as the pangolin, which today is specially protected and is not allowed to be hunted under Appendix One of the Convention In Trade of Endangered Species, (CITES).
This conservation practice of the pangolin borrows from the traditional method were the pangolin, if found and picked, was to be taken to the chief. It was not to be hunted, but to be revered as it was not just an ordinary animal. It was sacred.
One of the methods of hunting that was not allowed by chiefs was the use of traps.
The bow-and-arrow was used as it targeted only a species needed, even today the Maasai people in Kenya still use traditional methods to hunt as it is not meant for mass killings.
The relationship between a father and son was to not only teach the son to hunt, but what animal species to hunt as well as to identify those that were in gestation period and were not to be hunted.
Added to traditional methods of hunting which sustained healthy wildlife populations, was the respect animals received through totems.
It was and still is taboo in our culture for one to kill and eat an animal bearing his totem. Anyone whose totem is a lion respected it – through that respect different wildlife species multiplied in number.
Even if the totem is from their maternal side, one still respected the animal because killing it was akin to killing one’s mother.
That connection the community had to the resource such as fish, which they believed was from God, enabled sustainable management practices.
The spirit of conservation was inherent in each and every member of the community, says Chief Charumbira, but today the consumer is not connected to the resource.
Traditional leaders not only superintended over animals and fish, but trees and rivers. Wild fruits were meant for the community, birds, insects and animals.
When harvesting fruits, people only collected enough for the family to eat.
Little consideration is left for animals in the wild that also survive on wild fruits. Move around Harare and witness for yourself the harvesting of huge sacks of wild fruits for commercial purposes.
The same applies to medicinal trees in the wild, the deliberate reason to strip a tree of its bark from the east and west only was such that it would not dry or die. This knowledge was passed from generation to generation.
Then we entered into the period of the three Fs – fines, fire arms and fences. The period were science became superior to our traditional beliefs of managing wildlife.
Long before the fencing, fining and fire arms system was introduced in 1975, Zimbabwe successfully managed its wildlife population, lions included, through indigenous knowledge systems where traditional leaders played a critical role in protecting wildlife and enforcing laws.
Conservation of wildlife in the pre-colonial era had its successes in the value that totems carried on wildlife. For example if one ‘s totem was lion (Shumba/Isilwane), he would not hunt it as it was sacred.
Added to that, hunting and or killing of any animal needed the permission from the chief, failure which attracted a fine.
Therefore, wildlife conservation is not new to Zimbabwe and we should not look down upon our culture and tradition which sustained healthy wildlife populations. If anything if there is need to fuse technology and culture.
Communities should feel that the resource is theirs, and if they do not poach, will be difficult to manage and they will even aid those that are benefiting from illegal hunts. Poaching is done by communities when they don’t participate in wildlife conservation.
Nature is willing and ready to live with human beings, unfortunately we are greedy, selfish and destructive. Our forefathers thought about the future, which today we call sustainable ways of managing wildlife resources, they lived in harmony with nature.
The acting deputy dean at the Chinhoyi University of Technology School of Wildlife and Environmental Science, Professor Tongayi Mwedazi, says culture and tradition are not exactly the same.
He stressed that culture is the big picture, the way people think, live and express themselves.
It is the sum of all customs, values and practices that shape a community’s identity.
Tradition on the other hand, is more specific. It is like a particular custom or practice that has been passed down through generations.
Prof Mwedzi stressed that tradition is like a recipe that has been in the family for generations, it is a specific a way of doing things for long time and has become part of who you are.
So, in short, culture is the umbrella and tradition is one of the many things under it.
