Zambian Government looking to increase and stiffen penalties against wildlife crimes to enhance deterrence

GOVERNMENT is implementing legislative reforms to increase and stiffen penalties against wildlife crimes and enhance deterrence, Ministry of Tourism and Arts Permanent Secretary Amos Malupenga has said.

Amos Malupenga

Mr Malupenga said Zambia has embarked on the review of the Wildlife Act of 2015 and hopes to have a revised one by next year.

Speaking when he officiated at a two-day awareness workshop on available tools to support law enforcement in preventing and combating wildlife crime in the Kavango Zambezi Trans-frontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) region in Livingstone yesterday, Mr Malupenga said Zambia takes seriously biodiversity conservation.

“Wildlife crime is becoming increasingly recognised as a multifaceted global and specialised threat to many plant and animal species being poached and threatened to the brink of extinction.

“It appears that illegal wildlife trade is seen as a low risk activity, mainly due to inconsistent and ineffective prosecution and relatively low penalties,” he said.

He said partner states in the KAZA TFCA region have realised the impact wildlife crime has in decimating wildlife populations and efforts are being made to combat the scourge.

Mr Malupenga said Zambia is accelerating efforts in collaborating with other local law enforcement agencies and cross border collaboration with neighbouring countries in sharing intelligence information and joint operations in detecting and countering poaching and trafficking incidents.

A poached elephant

“Zambia has embraced the use of technology such as drones, and dogs for detection of wildlife crimes owing to the fact that wildlife crimes have become sophisticated and transnational in nature,” he said.

Speaking earlier, Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) director Paul Zyambo said the only way poaching can reduce is by making it expensive and very risky for the poachers by employing effective detection and deterrence systems.

“We, who are enforcing the law must make it very difficult for the poacher so that they do not consider it at all,” he said.

KAZA TFCA executive director Nyambe Nyambe bemoaned the levels of sophistication in wildlife crimes.

“We have a duty to up our game to keep up with this sophistication being employed by not only poachers, but also traffickers,” said Dr Nyambe.

And United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) global chief Jorge Rios said the organisation is available to offer assistance to KAZA TFCA to curb wildlife crimes.

VICTORIA FALLS' OTHER WONDER FACE: it is the only falls in the world with two faces, market both!

IT IS not strange for the Victoria Falls to be dry during summer because it is the only natural wonder in the world with ‘two faces’, site manager John Zulu says.

Social media has been abuzz with pictures of a dry Victoria Falls.

But speaking in an interview, Mr Zulu said the falls usually dries up during this time of the year.

He said it is during this time of the year that geologists also conduct studies and monitoring exercises on the falls.

“There is nothing very strange about this phenomenon. The Victoria Falls is the only falls in the world with two faces, not even the Niagra falls comes close. What we should be doing is market these two faces,” he said.

Mr Zulu said there is need to market the other face of the falls to the world because it too has its own advantages. “We have packaged different activities for tourists in different seasons to get maximum benefits out of it. In this period, you get to walk on top of the falls to the Livingstone Island, swim underneath the falls, swim in the angel’s pool as well as in the devils pool, and also white water rafting,” he said.

He said the high water season runs from the second week of December to August whereas the low water season at the falls is from the September to December with the climax being April and May.

“It’s difficult to say whether this has affected tourist arrivals or not, because there are people who love to view it in its current state. They appreciate it because it is the only time they get to see the geological formation of the falls and appreciate its aqua life as opposed to viewing it at its climax where there is just a spray of water,” he said.

Mr Zulu said the Zimbabwean side of the falls has water falling at the main falls and the devils cataract because the falls slants towards the Zimbabwean side.

“Whereas on our side, we have a hydro-power plant which has diverted water for economic and social benefits, but even without the diversion, this time of the year, we don’t have a lot of water, plus we all know that we had bad rains,” he said.

He said that there is need to market the falls even in its current situation so that people get to appreciate its two faces.

This article was also published in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper of October 9, 2019. You can find it on this link http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/vic-falls-shows-its-other-wonder-face/