Community Sets Its Sights on Hunting

BuaNews (Pretoria)

June 21, 2004
Craig Elyot
Pietermaritzburg

A KwaZulu-Natal Midlands community is considering hunting as a means to economic empowerment and sustainable land use.

The Ngome community near Greytown was the beneficiaries of one of the first ever land claims awarded in South Africa, when they received a 600-hectare game farm at Bambathaskraal in the 1990s.

Now, the community wants to turn the farm back into a profitable hunting concession.

They have signed a four-year contract with the amateur hunting association, KZN Hunting and Conservation Association (KZNHCA).

Ngome Community Trust chairman Thembinkosi Lathe said proceeds from hunting operations would then be ploughed back into the community to build clinics, roads and schools.

"Hunting will create training and jobs and we will also get income from the hunting activities and from the by-products of hunting, such as taxidermy and the sale of the meat," he said.

The KZNHCA will rehabilitate the hunting camp, train local people as camp staff, game guards and field managers and set up a sustainable hunting programme.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife will train the community in bushcraft. Income will be generated by hunting fees and through accommodation at the lodge.

The community will continue to have access to the land for thatching and building materials and, should the need arise, for grazing.

KZNHCA will train the community to make the venture economically viable. The training will include calculating how many animals can be sustainably hunted each year, how to manage the land for maximum benefit to the animals, and overcoming drought conditions and animal sickness.

KZNHCA chairperson Charl van Heerden said the community had been guaranteed a fixed income for four years.

Over and above that they would get 80 percent of the accommodation turnover and 85 percent of the hunting fees.

"We have done a game count and there is not much that needs to be done to create a sustainable hunting concession - we might introduce more impala and wildebeest because they are very popular hunting species. Our members have also agreed to become actively involved in community upliftment."

The deal was given the thumbs up by Wildlands Conservation Trust CEO, Dr Andrew Venter.

"It shows once again that conservation can be a powerful tool for generating employment and income," he said.