INFORMATION, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa has announced the approval of a Human-Wildlife Conflict Fund for victims to compensate families and survivors of human wildlife conflict.
By Michael Gwarisa
The fund will also be extended to include preventative measures such as providing water in the game parks and enhancing grazing pastures as well as look at associated impacts such as livestock loss and control of wildlife and livestock movements to curtail the spread of diseases such as foot and mouth.
Sources of funding will also include Treasury, while local structures will be incorporated into the programme. Briefing Journalists during a Post Cabinet Media Conference, Senator Mutsvangwa said this year alone, as of August 2022, forty-six Zimbabwean lives have been lost to human-wildlife conflict, with the most affected being Mashonaland West Province, where 19 people were killed, mostly in Kariba. Regionally, Zimbabwe has the highest number of deaths from human wildlife conflict.
Cabinet considered and approved the establishment of the Human-Wildlife Conflict Relief Fund for Victims in Zimbabwe, as proposed by the Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Honourable N.M. Ndlovu. Cabinet wishes to highlight that, as a result of its successful conservation programmes, the country’s increasing human and wildlife populations have led to competition for limited resources between humans and animals. In 1980, Zimbabwe had reached an elephant population of approximately 50 000 , while the human population was 7.4 million,” said Sen Mutsvangwa.
According to Sen Mutsnagwa, the elephant population is now estimated at more than 85 000, with other species also showing significant growth.
“The consequent competition for limited resources often results in wildlife attacks on humans, especially in communal areas and towns that are close to national parks, safaris, forests and other protected areas. Consequently, people living adjacent to wildlife areas are always in danger of being attacked by the animals, and it has been established that the frequency of such attacks is increasing.
“For example, in Botswana there are significantly less deaths, although they have more elephants at 204 000. This is because they have a smaller human population and the settlements are sparsely populated. In over a period of 10 years, they have recorded 57 deaths.”
Besides the fatalities, human wildlife conflicts affect communities in other ways, including the following: People being maimed, disabled, or sustaining serious injuries; Loss of food security due to consumption and destruction of crops by animals; Loss of livestock to predatory wild animals; Destruction and damage of property and infrastructure; and Potential exposure to zoonotic diseases.
“Cabinet notes that Government, through the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), is implementing interventions to reduce human-wildlife conflict. The measures include conservation education in the use of barriers; translocation, sterilization and selective culling of wildlife; approved hunting quotas; and fencing to restrict or control the movement of wildlife.”
Accordingly, Cabinet adopted the establishment of a relief fund to cushion the victims of human-wildlife conflict by way of funeral assistance and an amount paid towards hospitalization and treatment with a set limit. The payments will cover three categories, namely: death, maiming, and injuries.
“A specialized human-wildlife conflict unit will be established under Zimparks. The Fund is based on a self-financing model where proceeds from hunting and other crowd funding activities will be mobilized to resource the Fund. These sources include reserving a hunting quota under the CITES granted quota, a levy on hunting revenue accruing to safari operators, Rural District Councils and conservancy owners.
