Mozambique puts bite into poaching laws

Published Apr 24, 2014

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Cape Town - Mozambique has at last introduced significantly tougher sentences for rhino poaching.

The apparent lack of will to enforce wildlife laws by South Africa’s neighbour and lenient sentences by its courts have been cited as major reasons for the cross-border onslaught on rhinos, especially in the Kruger National Park, from Mozambique in recent years.

As well as facing growing criticism by conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts, Mozambique has been under intense pressure from Cites (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species) to improve its compliance with and enforcement of the convention’s decisions.

Finally, a fortnight ago, the Mozambican parliament passed the Conservation Areas Act.

According to South African Environment Minister Edna Molewa, the new act further commits Mozambique to its international biodiversity conservation obligations and recognises transfrontier conservation areas as one of its national conservation area categories. It also provides for “significant” sentences for wildlife crime, including rhino poaching.

“The enactment of the Conservation Areas Act is a sign of the commitment of Mozambique to fighting the scourge of wildlife crime presently plaguing our countries,” Molewa said.

She was commenting after last week’s signing of a “memorandum of understanding in the field of biodiversity conservation and management” with her Mozambican counterpart, Carvalho Muária, at Skukuza in the Kruger National Park.

In terms of the agreement, major areas of co-operation between the two countries include compliance with Cites and other international, regional and sub-regional conventions and protocols, and biodiversity law enforcement.

Molewa said South Africa recognised Mozambique as a “priority country” within the Southern African Development Community and the need to engage with it on wildlife management.

“This is particularly with respect to addressing the scourge of rhino poaching within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (the ‘peace park’ between South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe). Escalating incidences of poaching have become a major challenge within the park, both to rhino and elephant populations.”

Dr Michael Knight, chairman of the Southern African Development Community Rhino Management Group, described the signing of the memorandum of understanding as “significant”. Such agreements set the legal template by which international co-operation should take place, he said.

“But having said that, the proof is very much in the eating, with demonstrable action required by the Mozambican authorities in taking the rhino poaching crisis seriously.”

Knight also said there was a need to clamp down on Mozambique’s role as an important transit state for poached rhino horn.

This would require beefed-up screening, using electronic means and sniffer dogs, at entry and exit ports. - Cape Argus

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