Wildlife bill to be passed before year-end

GOVERNMENT expects the Wildlife Bill, which is now before Parliament, to be completed and passed into law before the end of the year as it is the key to the establishment of the Human-Wildlife Conflict Relief Fund.

Cabinet approved the establishment of the fund for victims of human-wildlife conflict following proposals by the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife.

This followed countrywide consultations with communities affected by human-wildlife conflict where villagers implored the Government to establish a compensation fund for families of victims of attacks by wildlife and those that lose property and livestock, as well as those that are injured.

Once set up, the fund will help to cover funeral assistance for casualties of human-wildlife conflict, hospitalisation and treatment for those injured, and support programmes that reduce deaths caused by animals and support affected families and communities.

Victoria Falls is a prime tourism destination partly because wildlife, which although impacts negatively on the community, is a draw-card for tourists alongside the Seventh Wonder of the World; the falls.

With the continued increase in wildlife population, especially elephants, cases of human-wildlife conflict have become prevalent mainly in areas near game parks like in Hwange and Tsholotsho, Binga, Lupane and Bubi in Matabeleland North, and around Mana Pools in Mashonaland West, Gonarezhou in the Low veld, Bulilima and Matopo in Matabeleland South.

Close to 300 people were killed by wild animals and 308 injured between 2019 and last year countrywide, official records show.

A total of 697 cattle, 1 113 goats and 118 donkeys were killed during the same period.

Illegal settlements and infringement of protected areas by humans, competition for scarce resources, human encroachment into protected areas, illegal fishing, subsistence hunting, vandalism of perimeter fences, increase in human and animal population, climate change, change in land use patterns and poor livestock husbandry practices are some of the major causes of conflict.

Environment, Climate and Wildlife Minister, Dr Sithembiso Nyoni, said her team will meet with the members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Environment in Harare this week to update them on the Bill before it is taken to the public for input.

“We really look forward to the President signing the Wildlife Bill, which is now in Parliament. My ministry is going to sit with our Parliamentary Portfolio Committee to look into the Bill and explain to them so that when they take it to the communities and public they are well versed on what is contained,” she said.

“Thereafter, it will come back to Parliament for debate and passing. By the end of the year it should be out,” said Dr Nyoni.

She said the Bill seeks to, among other issues, address the need to manage our wildlife and valuing the animals and co-existence with humans.

“In the Bill there is the human wildlife fund, which is very important. In my opinion, it is the fund that we must use to prevent human-wildlife conflict because dealing with conflict alone will not solve the problem,” said Dr Nyoni.

“We need to look at causes, elements that cause the conflict and deal with it through the fund and thereafter people will live in harmony with nature and wildlife.”

The minister stressed the need to instil ownership on the communities to appreciate conservation issues and not be detached from the resource that attracts many tourist across the globe.

Some people have advocated for fencing off wildlife areas from communities but wildlife experts have said that is not possible considering the free movement the animals are expected to have within the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.