Some weeks ago we reported the good news that the Botswana authorities had decided to refuse hunting permits for big game and other endangered wildlife. It seems that the news coming out of Zambia is that they are also following suit.
Hunting permits have long been an extremely controversial issue with conservationists on one side and hunting businesses on the other. The money from big game hunting has been huge but the disadvantages far outweigh the income it brings in. With big game disappearing at an alarming rate now really is time to step up and protect the precious wildlife that is still left.
In Zambia the new Tourism and Arts Minister, Sylvia Masebo has taken what is regarded as bold action in a bid in order to weed out the terrible corruption that is rife in Zambia and to also try to establish some substantional growth for wildlife-based tourism which she sees as an important part of their future economy.
Zambia’s Game Management Areas (GMAs) were communal lands based around the outside of the protected National Parks. These were the areas where hunting permits were granted and executed. They were originally planned as important buffer zones between the wildlife and local communities who were farming the land around them. They were also a good source of income through game hunting tourism based around the various safari lodges and camps in the area. However the agreement has not really worked as monies have not filtered through to the local communities and the hunting has been at unsustainably high levels leading to a dearth in the wildlife in these zones.
The barriers between these GMAs and the national parks were not adequately managed and protected and hunting and also illegal hunting in the form of poaching has crept into the protected areas.
The leases for most of the GMAs expired at the end of 2012 and the government department has been looking into how they worked and in particular, the ever diminishing lion populations which are now at crisis point in Zambia. Ms Masebo sacked several corrupt officals at ZAWA (Zambian Wildlife Authority) and this month has introduced a complete ban on hunting lion and leopard with immediate effect. She has also banned all hunting permits and activities in 19 of the GMAs.
According to a press statement issued by Masebo, during this time government has committed to funding conservation activity in the GMAs while conducting a wildlife census on Zambia’s entire game area estate to establish current stock levels, as well as a review of the structures responsible for wildlife management. It is hoped that this will help preserve these species for future generations and also bring in much needed income from tourism and photographic tourism which are much more sustainable in the long term.
Leading conservationists are calling for the instatement of comprehensive land use plans for all Zambia’s wildlife areas including the GMAs. These plans should be based on individual needs of each location, looking at the individual habitat, community dynamics, wildlife populations, forestry and other resources. Some areas such as the South Luangwa are already successful at attracting tourism revenue but there are many less well known areas in Zambia that need investment in order to make the most of their natural attributes and bring in the much needed tourism income.
It looks like Ms Masebo is heading in the right direction with the banning of hunting and her strong anti-corruption stance but Zambia conservationists have a long and lengthy battle still ahead of them. There is still a strong threat from unsuitable over-development in the national parks and there has even been mention of allowing mining in the Lower Zambezi National Park.