Johannesburg – Unless government intensifies its anti-rhino poaching measures, South Africa will have a serious problem in dealing with an ever growing demand for the horn in Asian countries, a conservation expert has said.
On Wednesday, the Department of Environmental Affairs released its Rhino Issue Management (RIM) report, which stems from discussions with various stakeholders on the common plan to address rhino poaching.
“There is a rapid increase in income and populations who are using rhino products and this will lead to increase in demand… Those things we don’t have control over, they will happen anyway,” said Keith Lockhood, a consultant who had conducted a study on behalf of the department.
The rhino is a protected species in South Africa. Government has put in place a number of initiatives to curb poaching, including signing agreements with Asian countries, including Vietnam, where rhino horns are believed to be in high demand because of its purported medicinal qualities.
Cabinet is backing a plan to create a national rhino fund to help attract uniform funding for security, awareness and increasing the number of rangers at South Africa’s nature conversation parks.
Lockhood said: “There is a huge market for rhino products and declaring the trade in rhino products illegal has not closed down the market. The quantity of rhino horn demand will increase and to counter this, you will have to increase anti-poaching efforts. That’s the key message that comes out of our analysis.”
In a protracted discussion held in Kempton Park on Wednesday, government officials said while the situation appeared to be dire, there was no need for alarm and that the rhino species was not about to be extinct.
“The death rate has not yet surpassed the birth rate,” stated Fundisile Mketeni, a Deputy Director-General in the Department of Environmental Affairs.
“But the indicator of success for South Africans and the world will be less rhinos killed. We will continue to improve on our strategies to achieve that,” he said.
The latest figures show that more than 500 rhinos had been killed for their horn since the beginning of this year. The Kruger National Park continues to be the hardest hit, with 321 rhinos poached there since January.
Those who attended the discussions today raised a range of issues, including questions on legalising rhino trading and hunting. Others expressed frustration at what they described as a low conviction rate for rhino poaching crimes.
But official figures released by Environmental Affairs in June this year show that since January, a total of 129 suspects have been arrested and others have already been sentenced and are serving prison terms. Last year, 135 arrests were made.
“We understand this is an emotive issue, you are angry as South Africans…but we can do more with your interventions. We appeal to you to read our strategies and participate. We are in this thing together,” Mketeni said.
Recommendations to curb poaching
The RIM report, compiled by former SANParks CEO Mavuso Msimang, makes several recommendations, including legalising the rhino horn trade, increased intelligence, funding for awareness campaigns as well as safety and security.
It recommends a review of the existing rhino security strategy to deal with emerging issues, including the boom in rhino horn trade in Asia.
Msimang and his team hosted 16 workshops and held discussions with concerned parties. The report states that there is support to include commercial international trade in rhino horn as an integral part of South Africa’s response strategy.
There should also be a serious upgrade of security on the South African border with Mozambique. Government should negotiate a memorandum of understanding between Mozambique and South Africa that will include provisions necessary for the protection of rhinoceros and other wildlife species in the greater Limpopo conversation area of Kruger National Park. The same should be done with Zimbabwe.
Other recommendations include setting up a centralised permitting system and database for live rhino sales, rhino horn sales and hunts.
Presently, professional hunters, hunting outfitters and trainers only register in individual provinces, and if they are non-compliant in one province, they can apply to operate or continue to operate in another province.
Legislation that is aimed at strengthening the regulatory and enforcement provisions to prevent abuse of the hunting permitting system will soon be passed in Parliament. The Bill will make provision that a person who is involved in an illegal restricted activity, but who does not physically carry out the restricted activity, can also be found guilty of an offence.
In its response, government concedes that tackling poaching has become extremely expensive. This has meant increasing the number of rangers, salaries and security at conservation parks.
Mketeni said a national fund would allow civil society, the corporate sector and international funders to make financial contributions to save the rhino. He said currently, there were more than 4 000 organisations that collect donations purported to address rhino poaching.
“This is not working; we need to have one central funding mechanism,” he said.
Mketeni said government was doing “all [it] can” to root out rhino poaching but agreed a lot still needed to be done to clean up the system, including improving security at the country’s borders as well as dealing with corruption.
Currently there would be no commitment to rhino trade and discussions would continue on the possible lifting of the moratorium on rhino trading.
SANParks, which was given R75 million this financial year to address rhino poaching, planned to recruit 150 extra rangers at Kruger Park, and so far 72 have been hired, said its Head of Communications, Paul Daphne.
“I do think with the support of the department, we also have a lot of funding from the private sector. I think that gives some kind of idea that we are not folding our arms, waiting for something to happen. We have been putting a lot of effort and resources,” Daphne said.
Meanwhile, a statement issued earlier in the day said the RIM report, handed over to Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa had assisted the department in updating its rhino response strategy.
“The RIM report incorporates current thinking on sustainable rhino conservation by acknowledged rhino specialists, ecologists and a range of other experts. The consultation process resulted in clear agreement that the country’s rhinos should be conserved… Every effort should be made to protect the threatened species from the sustained poaching onslaught,” read the statement. – SAnews.gov.za
