Human-wildlife conflict intensifies
With incidences of conflict with wild animals on the increase, a conference is under way to draft a new, more effective policy.
During the past five years nearly 60 people have been killed by wild animals while 11 were injured.
A massive 25 867 livestock which includes cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys have been killed by wild animals since 2013 while 1 524 hectares of crops have been destroyed.
These statistics include up-to-date data for this year which was made available by the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta at the National Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management.
The two-day conference will review the challenges, opportunities and problems experienced with wildlife conflict and what measures can be put in place to address the conflict.
This year seven people have already been killed by wild animals and 55 livestock have been killed while 57 hectares of crops were destroyed.
Shifeta said that these conflicts occurred because of competition between the growing human population and wildlife for the same space and resources, as well as drought, floods, movements of people for food security and also continued negative exposure to areas with wildlife. He said that many animals are destroyed in retaliation in incidents of human-wildlife conflict even when the identification of the real culprit is not possible, especially with predators.
“This may eliminate the species and affect the ecosystem and home ranges. This also has a broader environmental impact on ecosystem equilibrium and biodiversity conservation.”
According to Shifeta human-wildlife conflict therefore can have social and economic impacts. It reduces cash income and has repercussions impacting biodiversity conservation.
He said that addressing this conflict requires striking a balance between conservation priorities and the needs of people who live with wildlife. “We want to manage human-wildlife conflict in a way that recognises the rights and development needs of local communities and farmers and also recognises the need to promote biodiversity conservation, promotes self-reliance and ensures that decision-making is quick, efficient, and based on the best available information.”
According to him a variety of approaches can be implemented in order to manage the conflict efficiently in line with the strategies set out in the policy. These include prevention strategies which endeavour to avoid the conflict occurring in the first place and to take action in addressing its root causes. There are also protection strategies that are implemented when the conflict is certain to happen or has already occurred, as well as mitigation strategies that attempt to reduce the level of impact and lessen the problem.
Shifeta said that with the current challenges it has become imperative that the National Policy on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management should be reviewed.
The new policy should therefore be focused and specific on affected areas and the conflict should be addressed.
He said that the policy should furthermore have an implementation plan that outlines the required human and financial resources to deal with the problem.
ELLANIE SMIT
A massive 25 867 livestock which includes cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys have been killed by wild animals since 2013 while 1 524 hectares of crops have been destroyed.
These statistics include up-to-date data for this year which was made available by the Minister of Environment and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta at the National Conference on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management.
The two-day conference will review the challenges, opportunities and problems experienced with wildlife conflict and what measures can be put in place to address the conflict.
This year seven people have already been killed by wild animals and 55 livestock have been killed while 57 hectares of crops were destroyed.
Shifeta said that these conflicts occurred because of competition between the growing human population and wildlife for the same space and resources, as well as drought, floods, movements of people for food security and also continued negative exposure to areas with wildlife. He said that many animals are destroyed in retaliation in incidents of human-wildlife conflict even when the identification of the real culprit is not possible, especially with predators.
“This may eliminate the species and affect the ecosystem and home ranges. This also has a broader environmental impact on ecosystem equilibrium and biodiversity conservation.”
According to Shifeta human-wildlife conflict therefore can have social and economic impacts. It reduces cash income and has repercussions impacting biodiversity conservation.
He said that addressing this conflict requires striking a balance between conservation priorities and the needs of people who live with wildlife. “We want to manage human-wildlife conflict in a way that recognises the rights and development needs of local communities and farmers and also recognises the need to promote biodiversity conservation, promotes self-reliance and ensures that decision-making is quick, efficient, and based on the best available information.”
According to him a variety of approaches can be implemented in order to manage the conflict efficiently in line with the strategies set out in the policy. These include prevention strategies which endeavour to avoid the conflict occurring in the first place and to take action in addressing its root causes. There are also protection strategies that are implemented when the conflict is certain to happen or has already occurred, as well as mitigation strategies that attempt to reduce the level of impact and lessen the problem.
Shifeta said that with the current challenges it has become imperative that the National Policy on Human-Wildlife Conflict Management should be reviewed.
The new policy should therefore be focused and specific on affected areas and the conflict should be addressed.
He said that the policy should furthermore have an implementation plan that outlines the required human and financial resources to deal with the problem.
ELLANIE SMIT
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