Fund set up for victims of human-wildlife conflict

THE establishment of a relief fund to cushion victims of human-wildlife conflict to cater for hospital expenses and funeral cover has been adopted by Cabinet, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa has said.

She was speaking after Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting where a worrying rise in conflict between people and wildlife was noted.

This had been on the rise since the Cites restrictive measures on the trade in raw ivory.

Controlled hunting of elephants, the major cause of conflict, had kept numbers steady, but the ban has seen elephant populations rising to levels where elephants were often moving out of wildlife areas into neighbouring villages and farms.

Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia, home to more than 60 percent of the world’s elephants, are the largest hit by the ban, which has culminated in an unsustainable large herd of animals in these countries.

Minister Mutsvangwa said Government, through the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks), was implementing interventions to reduce human-wildlife conflict.

The measures include conservation education in the use of barriers, translocation, sterilisation and selective culling of wildlife, approved hunting quotas and fencing to restrict or control the movement of wildlife.

“Cabinet adopted the establishment of a relief fund to cushion the victims of human-wildlife conflict by way of funeral assistance and an amount paid towards hospitalisation and treatment with a set limit,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

“The payments will cover three categories: death, maiming, and injuries. A specialised human- wildlife conflict unit will be established under Zimparks.

“The fund is based on a self-financing model where proceeds from hunting and crowd funding activities will be mobilised to resource the fund.

“These sources include reserving a hunting quota under the CITES granted quota, and a levy on hunting revenue accruing to safari operators, rural district councils and conservancy owners.”

Going forward, the fund will be extended to include preventative measures such as providing water in the game parks and enhancing pastures.

The fund will also look at associated impacts such as livestock loss and control of wildlife and livestock movements to curtail the spread of diseases such as foot and mouth. Sources of funding will include Treasury, while local structures will be incorporated into the programme.

“Cabinet wishes to highlight that, as a result of its successful conservation programmes, the country’s increasing human and wildlife populations have led to competition for limited resources between humans and animals,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

“In 1980, Zimbabwe had reached an elephant population of approximately 50 000, while the human population was 7,4 million. In 2022, the ZimStat population census estimated the number of people to have more than doubled to 16 million.

“The elephant population meanwhile, is now estimated at more than 85 000, with other species also showing significant growth.

“This often results in wildlife attacks on humans, especially in communal areas and towns that are close to national parks, safari areas, forests and other protected areas.

“Consequently, people living adjacent to wildlife areas are always in danger of being attacked by the animals, and it has been established that the frequency of such attacks is increasing.”

By August this year alone, 46 Zimbabwean lives had been lost to human-wildlife conflict, with the most affected being Mashonaland West, where 19 people were killed, mostly in Kariba district.

Regionally, Zimbabwe has the highest numbers of deaths from human-wildlife conflict. In Botswana, there are significantly less deaths, although they have more elephants at almost 130 000.

Botswana is a larger country in area with a population of only 2,34 million, less than 15 percent of Zimbabwe’s, so the potential for human-wildlife conflict is lower.