via Zim courts US over sport hunting ban – NewsDay Zimbabwe. 21 June 2014
ENVIRONMENT, Water and Climate Change minister Saviour Kasukuwere yesterday revealed that Zimbabwe is in delicate discussions with the United States government over a trophy and sport haunting ban imposed last year.
Senior Reporter
Kasukuwere said the country would sent a Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) delegation to Capitol Hill in Washington to meet a congressional panel over the matter next month.
“The negotiations are being done with the United States Congress. ZimParks director-general [Edson Chidziya] will lead a team to Washington to meet a congressional panel next month about the ban on trophy and sport hunting,” he said. The visit will come as Zimbabwe tries to increase its tourism revenue receipts from US hunters who are the majority of visitors during the hunting season.”
The minister made the remarks on the sidelines of announcing a new ZimParks board.
The new eight-member board will be chaired by Alvin Ncube, a former general manager at the Forestry Commission.
Other board members are Gilbert Pwitia, a scientist, lawyer, Nellie Janyika, Wilson Mutinhima, a former deputy director at Campfire.
The other members are Tichaona Mundangepfupfu, a former permanent secretary in the Environment ministry, Retired Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena, the Zanu PF director of the commissariat, ZimParks director-general Chidziya and a yet-to-be named director in the ministry.
Kasukuwere said he expected the board, among other things, to see to the transition of the ownership of the Save Valley Conservancy which was recently turned into a national park by the government.
“You have come at a time when the Save Valley Conservancy is now under Parks and Wildlife Management Puthority and as such, my expectation is to see smooth integration of this area into mainstream Parks Estates,” he said.Kasukuwere said the board should lobby the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to allow the country to resume trading in its huge stockpile of ivory.
“Zimbabwe has around 70 tonnes of ivory and five tonnes of rhino horn which we cannot trade because of our international obligations to CITES. This is one area where I expect the board to lobby the world so that we could get some revenue from these stocks and be able to support our conservation efforts,” he said.
National parks cover at least 14% of the country’s land area. They have acted as the main attraction to tourists who usually visit to watch or hunt the big five — elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard — which are common in the country’s parks.
COMMENTS
Ban or no ban crooked operators in cahoots with fatcats will murder all of the wildlife anyhow they can.
Not one person with any viable conservation credentials….of course, that is the ZANU way…God help our wildlife. As with every other asset we have, our natural heritage will be sold to the fastest bidder….
no wonder we have not heard any news of the Presidential Elephants-
Get some revenue and steal from the Coffers
All this does is empower the Chinese . Hope the yanks put the screws on the parks delegation
Let us hope the Americans insist on talking to real conservationists and scientists in Zimbabwe and demand transparency such as exactly who is the end beneficiary from any trophy hunting.
Ban on hunting by the states…..bu#%$€#t…..sat next to me on the emriates flight last week were eight American Hunters.Their weapons in stainless steel cases were the first luggage to pop out on the carousel
Do not be fooled US of A…retired Air Marshal Muchena was involved in the election rigging and violence, as for the others all zanu profiteers..None believe in private enterprise but the use of the state machinery to monopolize and profit for themselves..
Botswana will really benefit from this ZANU lot trying to get a hunting ban lifted. Botswana has worked out that one lion shot with a camera over the 15 years of it’s life is worth fifty to 100 times more than the lion shot once with a gun. This ZANU lot will have every one of our animals shot and sold to the quickest bidder and Botswana’s animals will become even more valuable as you will only be able to find them there in twenty years from now. Our tourism industry is doomed. Why invest money in a country which will have no wildlife left to speak of in a few years….rather build a lodge in Botswana because their “NO HUNTING” ban has just secured the TOURIST INDUSTRY FOR THE NEXT 100 years there.
There’s the problem – ZANU don’t want something 20 years down the line….they want that lion trophy NOW….for their pocket, NOW. and then it is gone. Who gives a sh****t. Useless, useless fools.
what else can we expect from the illiterate ones like the one Kwekwe Zanupf MP, Chinotimba, ailing and hardly walking Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, ever drunk and almost brainless Mavhaire, rapacious and first class looters lots of the likes of Obhet Mpofu, opportunists of all categories and the female forever ululating lumpens……..They want cash to give to Del the EU representative.
Nairobi, 23 June 2014 – CITES welcomes the world’s environment ministers adding their voice to the concerted global efforts underway to combat illegal wildlife trade at the first UN Environment Assembly to be held in Nairobi this week. Over the past three years illegal wildlife trade has been rising to the top of the international agenda. From the UN Security Council to the World Heritage Committee, there is recognition at the highest political levels of the economic, social, environmental and security impacts of this highly destructive criminal activity.
The focus now has to be on the front line. This means even stronger law enforcement and demand-reduction efforts across multiple countries, to reverse the current dangerous trends. CITES decisions and compliance processes underpin the global effort.
Read more at: http://www.cites.org/eng/environment_ministers_add_voice_to_illegal_wild
Someone please give Sharon Pinnacott the website for Cities and let her voice and the voices fo the Presidential Elephants be heard