The Zimbabwean Minister of Environment, Water and Climate, Oppah Machinguri, announced the donation on Friday at a press conference closing the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park. The Transfrontier Park consists of the PNL, the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe.
“This donation demonstrates our commitment to the development of the Transfrontier Park”, said Machinguri. Among the animals to be donated to Mozambique, as from April, are elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, impalas, kudos and other species of antelope.
During the meeting, Zimbabwe and South Africa also promised to provide animals to restock a second Mozambique conservation area, the Zinave National Park in Inhambane province, over the next two years.
The Mozambican Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, described the meeting as productive, and said the Zimbabwean and South African delegations recognised and values the results achieved by Mozambique in joint operations to fight against wildlife crime.
Correia claimed there have been positive results in the battle against poaching, including a sharp reduction in the number of poachers from Mozambique entering the Kruger Park. “The number of animals is being rebuilt, although this is a struggle which has to be waged continually”, he said.
Other joint benefits attained, Correia added, include training and the transfer of knowledge, the sharing of information, logistical support and assistance on the ground, and the development of a joint communications network between the three countries.
The three governments also agreed to exploit opportunities in renewable energies, bearing in mind their potential for supporting sustainable tourism and community development programmes within the Limpopo transfrontier conservation areas.
Regular ministerial meetings are an outcome of the treaty signed between the Presidents of the three countries in December 2002, which set up the Transfrontier Park. This envisaged the establishment of a committed formed by ministers of the environment to discuss management of the ecosystems of the conservation areas in the Greater Limpopo region.
Post published in: Agriculture