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Africa Hunting : Tanzania: Tourist hunters to `dig deeper` as govt ups fees
on 2011/2/7
Tourist hunters will have to dig deeper into their pockets following the government’s decision to hike the hunting permit fee for its hunting blocks from $27,000 to $60,000 for category I, according to the new guideline issued yesterday.

Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism Ezekiel Maige told a press conference in Dar es Salaam that the government has responded to the public outcry by increasing the number of hunting blocks from 158 to 190 and has also categorised the hunting blocks into five depending on the type and number of animals to be hunted.

He said those who are interested and are competent can submit their formal application for hunting permits after the government would have advertised the blocks in widely circulating newspapers from February 10, 2011 for the 2013-2018 term.

“Let me clear rumours doing the rounds that the Minister had allocated some hunting blocks already. I am a man of integrity and value transparency and accountability,” said Maige.

The Minister however said the wildlife conservation (Tourist Hunting) regulations 2010 have categorised hunting blocks in accordance with grade points average whereby category I has 24 blocks hunting permit fee $60,000, category II has 95 blocks and its hunting fee is $30,000.

Others include category III with 18 blocks attracting a hunting fee of $18,000, whereas in category IV with 8 hunting blocks attracts a fee of $10,000 and the last category with 8 blocks the hunters will have to pay a fee of $5,000.

According to the minister, the grade point has been done in accordance with the species and number of animals to be hunted and whether it has wildlife resources for sustainable tourist hunting and a diverse animal species and habitat.

Its accessibility in terms of terrain and infrastructure from Dar es Salaam, reliable water supply and the scope of human activities are among factors taken into consideration, according to Minister Maige.

Elaborating, Minister Maige said in establishing a hunting block the boundaries of the proposed block is clearly demarcated by Global Positioning System (GPS) according to its potential for wildlife recovery upon a given time frame and investment.

Responding to reporters’ questions, Director of Wildlife Erastus Tarimo revealed that for the hunting season that began in July 2010 to-date, the government has generated Sh52bn as direct fee.

He said applicants who are Tanzanians are required to produce a bank bond of guarantee to the tune of at least $300,000 and for a foreign owned hunting company a bank bond of $1,000,000 is required as a guarantee.