BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
There is an upsurge in cases of human-wildlife conflict in areas around the Hwange and Matesti wildlife corridor due to over population in nature reserves and water shortages, Environment, Climate and Tourism minister Nqobizitha Mangaliso Ndlovu has said.
Ndlovu told the ongoing 2022 pre-budget seminar for parliamentarians in Victoria Falls that consultations had revealed that increasing competition for resources such as water and food between people and wild animals was becoming increasingly deadly.
“Some of the key causes of human- wildlife conflict identified in the consultations so far are; increase in wildlife populations especially in Hwange and Matetsi areas vis-a-vis the available land area and forage,” Ndlovu said.
“(There is an) increase in human settlements in buffer zones and wildlife corridors and lack of meaningful direct benefits from wildlife hence communities decide to encroach into wildlife areas.
“There is also competition for water resources between wild animals, livestock and communities especially in the dry seasons and during periods of droughts.”
Ndlovu said lack of viable wildlife population control measures, especially in the wake of international restrictions, was also another factor that contributed to an unsustainable growth in wildlife populations.
He bemoaned the destruction of game fences, particularly in areas where human wildlife interactions have been known to occur.
Ndlovu said consultations with key stakeholders and communities indicated the need to re- establish game fences to reduce human wildlife interactions and financing replanning of settlements as well as ensure proper land use planning to avoid wildlife corridors and buffer zones.
“There is also a need to increase water supply in wildlife habitats to curtail unnecessary wildlife movements across park boundaries,” he said.
He said the process was already being done through assistance from international partners such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Frankfurt Zoological Society and the African Parks Network.
Other measures include translocations, increased hunting quotas and expedited implementation of the new Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources modalities to ensure accountability by appropriate authority holders such as rural district councils.
Ndlovu told parliamentarians that his ministry has started consultations to update the 1992 Wildlife Policy, which will contain strategies to address human- wildlife conflict.
“So far consultations are taking place in Matabeleland North province from the 21st to the 25th of October, “he said.
“Meetings have so far taken place in Tsholotsho, Bulawayo and Maphisa and the team will be moving to Binga next week and the rest of the country’s key wildlife areas will be covered in November. ”