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Vincent Gono, Features Editor
ZIMBABWEAN communities that are sitting side by side with wildlife conservation areas have for a number of years been in constant conflicts with animals as the fight for space is getting intense with a sharp growth in population on both sides not reciprocated by growth in the habitant, and the country is not getting funding for development of trans-frontier conservation areas due to sanctions.
The ensuing human-wildlife conflicts that have been confirmed by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority have seen a number of animals either poisoned or killed in the not so harmonious relation as the animals of the wild stray into areas of human habitation causing destruction to crops and even loss of human life and livestock.
Acting Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu said in an interview that he was aware of the human-wildlife conflicts in areas juxtaposing animal areas. He said the extension of areas of influence for animals, particularly elephants under the Trans-frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) was being affected by sanctions imposed on the country by the US and the EU.
Trans-frontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are defined as a component of a large ecological region that straddles the boundaries of two or more countries encompassing one or more protected areas as well as multiple resource use areas. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe has not been getting the financial support to develop its side of these transboundary ecological areas from international institutions that are into conservation because of sanctions.
“It’s one area that has been greatly affected by these sanctions, firstly these sanctions have been giving adverse travelling warnings to Zimbabwe which affects directly the number of people visiting the country. In the Kavango-Zambezi (Kaza) Trans-frontier Conservation Area, four other countries (Angola, Botswana, Namibia and Zambia) have been receiving support in the tourism industry for the past five years, Zimbabwe only got assistance last year but again the quantum is not reflective of the need that is there to develop the area,” said Minister Ndlovu.
He said the tourism sector needs constant development but that had not been the case with Zimbabwe as sanctions made it impossible to access lines of credit and foreign direct investment to channel towards developing tourist products.
“You need to continuously embrace new ideas that tourists are keen to experience and we are unable to do that because investment in the sector is limited. These sanctions are evil, they are unjustified and they are illegal, they just have to go. I implore those that believe there is anything they can achieve with sanctions to consider the people who suffering, the jobs that could have been created and the potential revenue that could have come into this country,” he said.
The country, he said, has outdone itself in conservation with the little resources at it’s disposal.
“We have the second largest elephant population in the world after Botswana and we have been doing very well. We are seeing heightened human-wildlife conflict and it’s caused by lack of funds to develop our side of conservation areas. We are being penalised for doing so well and it’s just not fair,” he said.
He added that the lack of funding in the Kaza that encompasses Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe led to minimal development in Hwange National Park resulting in more human-wildlife conflicts while the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Conservation Area that has South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe has also led to the slow pace in developing Gonarezhou National Park thereby affecting communities.
With revelations that more than 70 percent of people in rural Zimbabwe are relying on agriculture, a number of villages in Tsholotsho, Hwange, Chiredzi and other districts that play host to animal sanctuaries tell sad tales of begging for food as their crops are always at the mercy of wild animals.
In Tsholotsho, Hwange and Chiredzi villagers’ food inadequacy is caused by their proximity to the country’s largest animal sanctuaries — Hwange National Park and Gonarezhou in Chiredzi where the country is grappling with the continued swelling elephant population.
At a population of 84 000, the elephants are almost doubling the country’s carrying capacity of 45 000 and they often visit the villages in numbers of 50 to 60 leaving an undesirable evidence of their unpleasant stopover in villages such as Sibambene, Sithembile, Mpilo and Pelandaba in Tsholotsho while wrecking havoc in Chief Tsovani’s and headman Mpapa’s communities that are close to Gonarezhou National Park in Chiredzi.
Tsholotsho Rural District Chairman Councillor Esau Siwela said a number of wards in the district were affected.
He said wards 1, 7 and 8 were the most affected and have been having very early problems of food shortages because their crops were always at the mercy of the wild especially the jumbos.
“We have been having this problem for a number of years now but it is heightening because the elephants are increasing in number every year resulting in the fight for space with human beings as they push to extend their sphere of influence outside the parameters of the Zimparks confinement,” said council chairman Cllr Siwela.
Villagers, he added, have learnt to live with it although they were soothed by the swift response from the authorities when they raise alarm on invasion by the unwelcome jungle visitors. Cllr Siwela said there was however, no compensation whatsoever from anyone including Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (Campfire) for the affected villagers.
“The sad thing is that most villagers who have their fields destroyed and their animals preyed on by the wild animals are not compensated. This year it was worse. The elephants have become so many that they have seriously affected areas that they wouldn’t normally reach. As it is, we are grappling with a serious shortage of food. Everyone in the district wants food. There is drought but our situation is worsened by the elephants,” added Cllr Siwela.
Chief Tshovani from Chiredzi told Sunday News in an interview that they have similar unwelcome visitors from the jungle in their communities as well where crops have been destroyed. He singled out elephants as most problematic saying they were the ones whose population outnumber other animals and whose level of environmental destruction was second to none.
“When communities are close to animal areas an abrasive relationship tends to happen. We have been having a problem with elephants because their numbers are constantly growing although this is not to say some other animals like lions and hyenas are at peace with us. We are thankful to Zimparks for erecting an electric fence, such incidences have been greatly minimised but some patches still report destruction and sometimes human life loss. Such has been a part of our life and it’s no longer surprising,” said Chief Tshovani.
Chiredzi Rural District Council Environment and Agriculture Executive Officer Mr Chenjerai Zanamwe said the district was an extensive agriculture and animal area and there was a lot of interference with each other.
“There has been massive crop destruction by animals, chief among them elephants that travel in groups. There has been reports of lions, hyenas and jackals attacking livestock in villages as well and in some cases human beings, although rarely,” he said.
Communities in Matetsi and Victoria Falls also have the same sad story to tell of their encounters and abrasive relationship with the wild animals that are fighting for space and resources with humans as sanctions take their toll on the country’s economic sectors.
Sadc has collectively dedicated the 25th of this month to march against the economic embargo on Zimbabwe largely seen as a diplomatic offensive after the land reform exercise. Despite calls from various quarters that the sanctions do not work, the US has maintained them, something seen as an economic punch to floor the country and cause regime change.
Online Reporter