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NitroXAdministrator
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SAVE - wildlife under threat as hunting is ‘indigenised’
      #214460 - 13/08/12 03:03 AM

Endangered wildlife under threat as hunting is ‘indigenised’

By Alex Bell
10 August 2012

Endangered animals in Zimbabwe are facing a serious threat from out of control hunting systems, with hunting licences being handed over to ZANU PF loyalists and other party members.

The government this week issued hunting permits to 25 indigenous ‘farmers’ allocating them lots at the wildlife-rich Save Valley Conservancy in the Lowveld. National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority director general Vitalis Chadenga said more permits would be issued next week. Chadenga said the black farmers who were issued with hunting permits were allocated 25-year land leases in conservancies throughout Masvingo province.

Included in the list of beneficiaries are top ZANU PF officials and loyalists, such as Masvingo Governor Titus Maluleke, former Gutu South legislator Shuvai Mahofa and Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge.
Mudenge and others were earlier this year implicated in a damning report by a parliamentary committee, which slammed the inclusion of conservancy land in the land grab campaign. The report, compiled by MPs and other government officials, warned that this has led to the destruction of important conservation areas, including parts of Save Valley.

The report singled out top ZANU PF and military officials as being responsible for this destruction, stating that Zimbabwe’s conservancies were supposed to be restricted to indigenous ‘investors’ with demonstrable “interest and experience in wildlife conservation (as well as the) capacity for business development and ability to contribute to the asset base.”

The parliamentary report said: “The allocation of indigenous beneficiaries that include General Engelbert Rugeje, Hon. Sithole, Hon. Senator Hungwe, Mr. Ndava, Hon. Minister S. Mudenge, Hon. Governor T. Maluleke, Mr. Cladman Chibemene, Rtd. Lt. Col. D. Moyo, Mrs Mahofa and Mr. A. Baloyi, according to the list submitted to the committee, was not based on business principles.”

These parliamentary warnings have not stopped the likes of Mudenge becoming the new beneficiaries of hunting licences, raising concerns about the impact this could have on Zimbabwe’s wildlife. The Save Valley Conservancy is home to a number of protected species, including the critically endangered black rhino.

Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, told SW Radio Africa on Friday that the hunting licences are being handed out with no commitment to controlling the hunting practices. He said that financial gain is likely to be prioritised over animal welfare.

“These guys are going to kill every single animal if controls not are used. But who is going to enforce the controls?” Rodrigues said.

He added: “This is political interfering in the smooth running of organisations like these conservancies. These people are only given these hunting quotas as appeasement by ZANU PF.”

With elections expected soon, and with most agricultural land already used up in previous vote-securing ZANU PF campaigns, other land is now under threat. This includes the numerous conservancies across the country which have already been targeted by land invaders.

Rodrigues said that the closer the country is to elections, the more “funny things” keep happening. He said that mining licences are also being handed out without any controls, despite the serous threats the operations have to the environment.

“There is no order, there is no control. This is just about taking as much as they can, and getting rich quick while they can,” Rodrigues said.

http://www.swradioafrica.com/2012/08/10/endangered-wildlife-under-threat-as-hunting-is-indigenised/

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John aka NitroX

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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
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Edited by NitroX (27/08/12 03:20 AM)


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Conservancy slams criminal handover of huntg permits to ZPF [Re: NitroX]
      #214800 - 17/08/12 01:33 AM

Conservancy slams ‘criminal’ handover of hunting permits to ZPF

Posted by Alex Bell on Monday, August 13, 2012 in Wildlife


Save Valley Conservancy logo

By Alex Bell
13 August 2012

The Save Valley Conservancy has called the decision to hand over hunting permits to ZANU PF cronies, under the guise of indigenisation, a purely ‘criminal act’ that threatens the future of tourism in Zimbabwe.

The government last week issued hunting permits to 25 so-called indigenous ‘farmers’ who were given land in the wildlife-rich Save Valley Conservancy in the Lowveld. National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, director general Vitalis Chadenga, said this was part of the government’s ‘wildlife based land reform’ exercise, saying beneficiaries have been allocated 25-year land leases in conservancies throughout Masvingo province.

Included in the list of beneficiaries are top ZANU PF officials and loyalists, such as Masvingo Governor Titus Maluleke, former Gutu South legislator Shuvai Mahofa and Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Stan Mudenge.

The state media reported last week that the exercise was a result of a refusal by white safari operators in the areas to ‘coexist’ with the new farmers, who reportedly were given the leases in 2004.

But Wilfried Pabst, the Vice Chairman of the Save Valley Conservancy, said the permits are ‘illegal’ and granting them is a “criminal act” that will ultimately destroy the hunting industry and, in the long run, have a major impact on tourism.

He dismissed the allegations that there had been a ‘refusal’ by conservancies to engage, saying a number of proposals on the reform of the wildlife industry had been made. He said these proposals were never discussed, and added that ‘wild life land reform’ has not been ratified or approved by Parliament.

“The people now involved have specifically stated that they don’t care about wildlife in meetings I have been in. They only care about the cash to be made,” Pabst said.

He added that this in itself shows the ignorance about the very complex hunting industry, because of the assumption that easy money can be made.

“This is a slow and low return business and not something that makes you rich overnight. We have said that need a passion for wildlife and conservation and an understanding of how it all works and if you don’t, you shouldn’t get involved,” Pabst said.

He warned that this is “another sector in Zimbabwe that will be destroyed,” while insisting the plans have nothing to do with indigenisation. He said this will put current safari operations out of business, meaning more people will be unemployed.

“The motivation here is purely personal enrichment and has nothing to do with indigenisation,” Pabst said.

http://www.swradioafrica.com/2012/08/13/...permits-to-zpf/

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John aka NitroX

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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
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lancaster
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Re: Conservancy slams criminal handover of huntg permits to ZPF [Re: NitroX]
      #214910 - 19/08/12 02:09 AM

it seems the bad news from rhodesia never ending

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Edited by lancaster (19/08/12 02:10 AM)


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500grains
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Re: Conservancy slams criminal handover of huntg permits to ZPF [Re: lancaster]
      #215564 - 27/08/12 01:46 AM

I was in Save in 2004 and 2005 and it already had a bunch of worthless black squatters there.

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Re: SAVE - wildlife under threat as hunting is ‘indigenised' [Re: 500grains]
      #215596 - 27/08/12 03:22 AM

Zimbabwe wildlife group says politicians threaten nature preserve with hunting licenses


By Associated Press,

HARARE, Zimbabwe — A new wave of land takeovers and hunting licenses granted to loyalists of President Robert Mugabe is threatening a massive wildlife preserve in southeastern Zimbabwe, a consortium of wildlife ranchers charged Friday.

The Save Valley Conservancy group said the takeovers, labeled as black empowerment, benefitted “a few greedy individuals who care only for what they can take for themselves” with no interest in protecting an array of endangered wildlife — including the rhinoceros



The conservancy of about 1,000 square miles (2,600 square kilometers) is unsuitable for anything but wildlife tourism, the group said.

It said two thirds of its small-scale wildlife ranch operators are already black Zimbabweans, but land and hunting concessions given to 25 “connected political individuals” are set to destabilize the region’s whole ecosystem.

Save (pronounced Sa-veh) is named after the river running through it, is the habitat with an abundance of elephant, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and eland, as well as the nation’s second largest population of black rhino and most species African lowland animals and birds. The conservancy runs breeding programs, internationally recognized research on rare mottled or “painted” wild dogs and photographic and hunting trips.

The group said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday that its own commercial hunting licenses were cancelled, depriving them of much needed income, while leading politicians of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party in the southern Masvingo province, who had no past relationship with conservancy members were “miraculously” allocated land and hunting licenses last month.

They include Mugabe’s minister of higher education Stan Mudenge, provincial governor Titus Maluleke and a ZANU -PF militant and former lawmaker, Mrs. Shuvai Mahofa. The conservancy said she is officially listed as having received nine farms under the often violent seizures of white owned farms that began in 2000 and has ignored two court orders to vacate a property she has occupied illegally on the conservancy.

Witnesses said at Mudenge’s recent remarriage, guests feasted largely on the game meat of wild animals.

Maluleke, however, has accused white wildlife ranchers of resisting what is termed a wildlife-based land reform program that calls on them to go into partnership with blacks in wildlife and animal husbandry projects. No further comment was immediately available from Mugabe’s party.

Mugabe insists the land takeovers are to correct colonial era imbalances in farm ownership that gave whites most prime land. But critics say many of the best farms have gone to Mugabe cronies since 2000 and still lie idle.

The Save Conservancy was founded in 1991 and has drawn support from the World Wildlife Fund and investors from Europe and United States who are protected under bilateral investment agreements with the countries involved.

The group said Friday its breeding and conservation successes put it in a position to help restock other nature preserves across the nation suffering from poaching and a lack of finances in Zimbabwe’s troubled economy.

It also set up a community trust to channel earnings from its operations into five neighboring rural districts, supporting thousands of villagers and employing at least 800 workers in the conservancy.

The group said the takeovers pose legal and diplomatic repercussions that go well beyond stifling members’ earnings and crippling the conservancy’s conservation efforts before the United Nations World Tourism Organization summit to be held in Zimbabwe next year.

It alleged politicians and Mugabe loyalists were shielding behind racial differences over black empowerment as a “cover for greed.”

“Let’s end the madness of a few. We cannot host a global tourism conference and on the other hand destroy one of Zimbabwe’s tourism jewels because a few want to lay their hands on the treasure,” said Willy Pabst, deputy head of the conservancy consortium.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/afri...8d67_story.html

--------------------
John aka NitroX

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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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SAHUNT
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Re: SAVE - wildlife under threat as hunting is ‘indigenised' [Re: NitroX]
      #215606 - 27/08/12 04:25 AM

When is this arsehole's expiry date.

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Life is how you pass the time between hunting trips.
Sometimes I do not express myself properly in the English language, please forgive me, I am just a boertjie.
Jaco Human
jacohu@mweb.co.za
SA Hunting Experience


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SAHUNT
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Re: SAVE - wildlife under threat as hunting is ‘indigenised' [Re: SAHUNT]
      #215659 - 27/08/12 01:59 PM

This is most probably the beginning of the end for wildlife and hunting in Zim. It is big headlines with us and the EU is allready calling for new sanctions.

What wil happen next? Cites will get involved, the States and Europe will stop the import of hunting trophies.(????)

This will stop hunters from going to Zim and the only people to suffer are the population of Zim and the wildlife. It boggles my mind that one idiot can do so much detruction of a beautiful country. I will shoot the ........ for free.

--------------------
Life is how you pass the time between hunting trips.
Sometimes I do not express myself properly in the English language, please forgive me, I am just a boertjie.
Jaco Human
jacohu@mweb.co.za
SA Hunting Experience


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