South Africa-based conservation groups have donated a new spotter plane and other anti-poaching tools worth R2.6 million to neighbouring Mozambique to curb the poaching of rhinos and other wildlife.
The new aerial surveillance aircraft will be used to patrol the Limpopo National Park, a 1 million hectare wildlife reserve which shares a 200km long boundary with the Kruger National Park and also close to Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park.
Together, the three reserves form a transfrontier wildlife conservation area almost the size of the Netherlands.
Apart from the plane, the ranger corps in the reserve also received bullet-proof jackets, GPS devices, computers and cameras along with tents, sleeping bags and other essenial patrol equipment.
The donation was made possible by the Rhino Protection Programme, a partnership between the SA Department of Environmental Affairs, SA National Parks, the Peace Parks Foundation and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
The five-year programme is funded by the Dutch and Swedish postcode lotteries and other private donors.
Speaking at a recent handover ceremony, Peace Parks Foundation chief executive Werner Myburgh said he was honoured to support men and women serving at the front line of the poaching wars in Mozambique.
SANParks chief Fundisile Mketeni said the equipment donated to Mozambique would help to strengthen transfrontier conservation of rhinos, elephants and many other wildlife species.
The Rhino Protection Programme also donated a further R1.75 million of advanced digital communications equipment to the Limpopo National Park. The new system allows encrypted and secure radio communications in the park, along with new communication links.