Boost for fight against wildlife crime
AS GAME reserves continue to struggle in dealing with the impact of Covid19 through the loss of manpower to combat wildlife crime, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Save our Species African Wildlife initiative, co-funded by the EU, recently approved an investment that will see a rapid transformation of technology available to game rangers at Somkhanda, a communityowned reserve in KwaZulu-Natal.
The initiative aims to improve the long-term survival prospects of threatened species. The IUCN has awarded a grant to Wildlands, a programme of the Wildtrust, to assist the Somkhanda Community Game Reserve in transforming its monitoring and patrolling system to incorporate smart technology that will enhance security.
The monitoring and patrolling system, known as the Vulcan Earth Ranger system, will integrate and display all historical and real-time data available from a protected area.
“Earth Ranger empowers protected area managers and rangers to take immediate, proactive actions to prevent and mitigate threat incidents,” Wildtrust said.
Meiring Prinsloo, Somkhanda reserve manager said: “This state-ofthe-art monitoring and patrolling system greatly enhances our situational awareness across the entire reserve and enables us to direct our boots on the ground more effectively.
“It is like having your finger on the pulse of the reserve security at all times, which is crucial in allowing us to effectively protect our wildlife and biodiversity.”