ZimParks Director General speaks on transformation of organisation

A BALOONING elephant population, the tiff with international conservation organisations such as CITES, the scourge of poaching that has continued to decimate the country’s wildlife, the ensuing human-wildlife conflicts due to fight for space, an acute shortage of resources to finance conservation projects and activities are all part of the challenges that the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has to contend with.

The challenges do not make conservation of the country’s biodiversity easy but it somehow has to be done.

But for the task to be executed and bring conservation pride to the country there was need to have a strategic management plan that would be followed with detailed discipline by personnel not divorced from the environment, human capital development and geo-political goings on both on a national, regional and international scale.

And when ZimParks Director General Fulton Mangwanya joined in August 2017, it was a priority to address the challenges mentioned above and other administrative issues that were affecting operations. He came in at a time when a number of challenges have been noted by ARS Progetti Consortium, an independent consulting firm contracted by the Government of Zimbabwe and supported by the European Commission during 2015-2016 to evaluate the operations of ZimParks and a final report was submitted in February 2017.

A number of challenges affecting the performance of ZimParks were identified in that process. Some of the challenges needed urgent intervention, whilst some needed strategic intervention in the medium to longterm depending on complexity and internal dynamics.

Dr Fulton Mangwanya (FM) spoke to Sunday News Reporter, Simba Jemwa (SJ) about some of the key challenges that needed urgent redress.

SJ: What were the major challenges facing ZimParks when you were appointed Director General in 2017?

FN: When I arrived at ZimParks in 2017, the organisation was faced with many problems that were affecting the effective management of the organisation. At the top of this list was low staff morale amid reports of abuse, intimidation and harassment. The working conditions were poor and the staff was not adequately resourced, both rangers and management. We also had seven-month salary arrears which caused the staff to struggle to go to work and even take care of their families. There were other issues like poor financial management and lack of prioritisation of key operational activities, authority accounts being garnished, a lack of strategic planning and strategic direction within the organisation. There was a growing debt, including a legacy debt of US$25 million which we managed to clear in December of 2019. But there were many problems that need to be attended to.

SJ: What have been your key achievements since your assumption of duty as Director General?

FN: We put in place new financial management systems and achieved a positive balance sheet which allowed us to clear the seven-month salary arrears and bonus for staff for 2016 and 2017.

This also allowed us to purchase uniforms for all employees and improve the image of the organisation while also improving vehicle workshop service, strengthening capacity, allocating adequate funding for fuels, oils and other lubricants.

ZimParks reduced poaching of key species (elephant, rhino and large carnivores) significantly within the first six months of 2018 and managed to sustain the trends in 2019 and 2020. There was a massive recruitment and training of rangers in 2018 and 2019, strengthening our enforcement efforts.