The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Ms Barbara Thomson, has paid tribute to local communities and the youth for their commitment to combating rhino poaching.
Deputy Minister Thomson said the youth, as the moral, economic, political and thought leaders of tomorrow are key in the battle that is being fought.
“They are the future conservation leaders and are the generation that will influence the continued existence of legal and illegal wildlife markets, thus contributing to a decline in the consumption, and demand, for rhino horn,” she said.
“We rely on communities, nationally and internationally, to support us in neutralising the threat posed by organised transnational criminal syndicates involved in the illegal wildlife trade. It is only through working with communities that sustainable solutions to the problem can be found,” said the Deputy Minister.
The Deputy Minister led the World Rhino Day 2015 celebrations, hosted by the Department of Environmental Affairs in partnership with the iSimangaliso Wetland Park at St Lucia in northern KwaZulu-Natal today, 22 September 2015.
World Rhino Day – 22 September – was launched by the World Wildlife Fund-South Africa in 2010 to celebrate the five different species of Rhino. The Day has since grown to become a global event to draw attention to the impact of poaching on the continued survival of the species.
South Africa has a proud conservation record, having brought the rhino back from near extinction in the 1960s to a healthy estimated 20 000 black and white rhino by the end of 2013. The country has been described as the only remaining hope for the world in terms of rhino conservation.
Communities living adjacent to national parks, state and privately-owned conservation areas, as well as private rhino owners, rely on the rhino, as a key member of the Big Five, as a source of income and job creation. The rhino is an important part of South Africa’s cultural, economic and natural heritage.
Cabinet approved the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros in South Africa in August 2014. The key aspects of this program are managing rhino populations, compulsory interventions (including proactive anti-poaching measures), international and national collaboration and cooperation, as well as long-term sustainability measures. Significant progress has been made with regards to the implementation of the interventions.
The Department of Environmental Affairs in partnership with the iSimangaliso Park Authority, ZAP-Wing, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the Kingsley Holgate Foundation, African Conservation Trust, Wildlands, Project Rhino KZN, Wildlife ACT, Peace Parks Foundation andVega Archipelago Verdensarv (Norwegian World Heritage Site) will celebrate World Rhino Day 2015 at the iSimangaliso Wetland Park on 22 September 2015.
The event this year featured a walk by 11 250 children from more than 70 schools around iSimangaliso, South Africa’s first World Heritage Site, with community members and leaders walking against rhino poaching, after which banners showing their commitment to combating the crime will be handed to the Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Mrs Barbara Thomson. The theme for the 2015 World Rhino Day is “Not on our watch.” and the slogan for this year’s event is “My Rhino, Our Future”!
The World Rhino Day event at iSimangaliso included the handing out much-needed equipment to some of the 185 entrepreneurs supported through the World Heritage Site’s Rural Enterprise Programme. So far, equipment to the value of R 5.9 million has been awarded to participating enterprises. iSimangaliso is also investing in skills for the future - 67 students are being supported to study at University in the fields of conservation and tourism to develop skills.
Year-on-year the land care and infrastructure development programmes, funded through the Department of Environmental Affairs, have employed community-based contractors creating over 50 000 temporary jobs in the last 10 years. Training programmes in tourism, hospitality and tour-guiding have included local people in the growth.
“These new partners benefit directly from conservation and in this way the Park’s outstanding heritage values have become tangible,” said the Deputy Minister ahead of World Heritage Day to be marked on Thursday, 24 September 2015.
The Deputy Minister also signed the World Youth Wildlife Declaration through which youth have demanded that their voices be heard stating that they do not want to be the generation to tell their grandchildren that they did nothing about rhino poaching or wildlife crime.
“Public awareness is pertinent in achieving the department’s priorities aimed at building a culture of environmental awareness and instilling a sense of responsible citizenship using social marketing tactics,” said the Deputy Minister.
The Department of Environmental Affair, has been leading the implementation of the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros in South Africa, which was approved by the Cabinet in August 2014. The four key aspects of the programme are the management of rhino populations, compulsory or pro-active anti-poaching interventions, national and international collaboration and long-term sustainability measures, which include the inclusion of communities in all initiatives aimed at ending rhino poaching.
Among the measures in the approach bearing fruit has been the deployment of the Department’s Environmental Management Inspectors, better known as the Green Scorpions, at the O R Tambo International Airport to make sure that non-compliance with the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) and its Regulations are enforced. The main aim is to detect the trafficking of wildlife products.
As part of the national roll-out of this initiative, we are in the process of deploying Green Scorpions to KwaZulu-Natal. These inspectors will be based at King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) and service Durban harbour, the Airport and the Golela border post.
The Deputy Minister called on communities to blow the whistle on rhino poaching, and wildlife crime.
“By blowing the whistle on rhino poaching and wildlife crime you are not only contributing towards saving a species for future generations – our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren – to enjoy and benefit from, you are also contributing to a safer society,” she said. “I would again like to appeal to all of you here today, to become the eyes and ears of the police – to report rhino and wildlife crime, and to state clearly: Not on our Watch!”
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