Parks to Hold Awareness Workshops

Source: The Herald (Harare)

Date: 6 December 2007

Author: Anon

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority will hold awareness campaign workshops to educate communities on the benefits of engaging in sustainable use of wildlife and natural resources in their surrounding areas in Gweru and Gwanda, beginning today.

The authority has held similar workshops in Harare and Masvingo following the formulation of a wildlife land reform policy aimed at augmenting the objectives of the land policy and promoting indigenisation through sustainable use of wildlife resources. The Minister of Environment and Tourism, Cde Francis Nhema, is spearheading the campaigns to make people aware of the alternative use of the land to the benefit of their communities and to uplift their standard of living. Parks and Wildlife Management Authority public relations manager Retired Major Mbewe said all the stakeholders in Midlands were expected to converge in Gweru today.

The authority will also hold a similar workshop in Gwanda, Matabeleland South, tomorrow. Rtd Maj Mbewe said the authority was holding the workshops to conscientise people on the importance of the wildlife-based land reform policy. "We are saying the wildlife-based land reform policy was formulated in the context of the land reform programme whose major objective was to address the land imbalances and bring about equitable distribution of natural resources in the country," said Rtd Maj Mbewe.

"It is important to emphasise to the people the future role that the wildlife industry should play and dispel some misconceptions among them." The historic land imbalances created by colonialism placed fertile land and natural resources in strict control of the minority whites and denied the majority blacks access to key resources and basic means of livelihood. Most of the arid land in regions four and five is not suitable for agriculture but if properly managed would be a regular source of income from wildlife farming, fishing and tourism.

Rtd Maj Mbewe said if communities engaged in conservancies and game ranging, it would help people understand the importance of wildlife preservation. This, he said, would also have a countering effect on the incidence of poaching. At the workshops the stakeholders would have an opportunity to decide on a model to use in the implementation of the policy. The authority has proposed three models for the implementation. The first model involves partnerships between current wildlife farmers and the authority. The second model recommends that existing wildlife farmers work in partnership with communities, while the third calls for communities to work with new indigenous investors. Participants for the workshops would be drawn from relevant Government ministries, communities and the private sector, among others.

At the end of the workshops, participants are expected to find a better way of bringing together other players in conservancies and game ranges so that they appreciate the need to preserve the country's natural resources.