Clive Stockhill, one of the property owners in the troubled sanctuary, says a stretch of 720 km needs to be fenced with a high perimeter electric fence, at a cost of $12,000 per km, to ensure that wild animals do not stray into neighbouring communities.
He said property owners could raise the amount if normality could be returned to the area. “We bought the initial animals for the conservancy with a loan from the International Finance Corporation, which we repaid. We are credit worthy to them.”
“We have not had any business for the past three years because international hunters are aware of problems in the area,” said Stockhill.
“The potential is there once all the current hurdles were facing are cleared,” he said.
The fences were damaged during the farm invasions when hordes of Zanu (PF) supporters invaded the sanctuary.
There are still some people camped on Masapasi ranch – mostly from Chipinge district. Stockhill said he wanted to see local communities benefitting from the project.
“We established the Save Valley Community Trust long back but government refused to accept the project,” he said.
Post published in: News