Club of Mozambique
File photo: Lusa
Rangers at Zinave National Park in Inhambane province in southern Mozambique have seized 147 firearms from poachers in the past 15 months, the park administration has said, quoted by daily newspaper Notícias.
Zinave National Park administrator António Abacar told Noticias that between 2016 and March 2017, 1,902 patrols were made and 62 poachers detained.
Rangers confiscated three trucks, three tractors and a trailer from poachers and illegal loggers. A total of 1,300 logs of illegally extracted timber were also seized.
“It is not enough to collect the weapons: we must also deactivate the small arsenals from which this material comes,” Abacar said.
The weapons were handed over to the Mabote district police command, which has jurisdiction over the park, with a view to their destruction.
In the last 15 months, the park has imposed fines for illegal activities of 5.5 million meticais (EUR 77,000) .
About a year ago, the Zimbabwe Hunting Sango Concession provided a huge amount of animals free of charge to the Zinave National Park, in response to the efforts of the Mozambican government to implement the recovery of this park. Zinave is part of the TFCA of the Greater Limpopo, but, with the exception of its habitat, little can add of greater value to this large area. This very high number of seized firearms (147), in my opinion, has serious implications, since to date I have no news that any economic project is being implemented between government, community and private initiative, aiming at the sustainable development of this reserve . What I derive directly from this report is that this wildlife relocation that I mentioned, for lack of management, triggered a major poaching race in this park. A translocation of this size should be the last step of a rational recovery process.
About two years ago, the government promised through private initiative to build at least one hotel / resort to attend the park, starting a new stage, making Zinave a new tourist attraction. How many of these relocated animals are still alive?