When humans and animals clash

29 May, 2016 - 00:05 0 Views
When humans  and animals clash Acting CEO for Kotwa Rural District Council Mr Farai Mutumbatuwisi

The Sunday Mail

Tendai Chara
For the past three years, Mrs Sipiwe Nyauta of Musawu Village under Chief Mukota in Mudzi district, has had sleepless nights.
The source of Mrs Nyauta’s troubles are herds of elephants that freely roam her neighbourhood.
Only recently, elephants from the nearby Nyatana Conservancy destroyed her crops.
The garden was her only source of income.
Now her family depends on food hand-outs for survival.The human-animal conflict at Nyatana has seen loss of crops, livestock, property and even lives.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, human-animal conflict is as “any interaction between humans and wildlife that results in negative impacts on human social, economic or cultural life, on the conservation of wildlife populations, or on the environment”.
The WWF says the problem is universal and affects both rich and poor countries.
As human populations expand and natural habitats shrink, people and animals are increasingly coming into conflict over living space and food. Following the destruction of crops by the wild animals, the villagers are now resorting to poaching.
The Nyatana Conservancy is a Campfire project which is run by a joint management trust which comprises villagers from Mudzi, Uzumba and Maramba Pfungwe in Mashonaland East province.
People are entitled to a 55 percent share of the income that is derived from the sale of wildlife. With the security fence having been removed, wild animals, among them elephants, hippos and leopards, are freely roaming.
Mrs Nyauta, just like any other affected villagers, does not know what to do.
“I am confused to say the least. We always send reports but nothing is being done.
I guess the responsible authorities would want to take action after lives have been lost,” complained Mrs Nyauta.
Tendai Musandiriri, the Kotwa District Council environment and agriculture officer, is aware of the dangers the community faces.
“We are trying our best to contain the situation. We have had reports from the affected villages and we always take appropriate action,” Mr Musandiri said.
He, however, bemoaned the presence of gold panners, whom he said are the major drivers of the conflict between humans and the animals.
“Mazowe River runs through the conservancy and as you might be aware, alluvial gold panning activities are rampant in this area.
The animals have been displaced by the panners, resulting in the conflict,” added Mr Musandiriri.
The panners, according to Musandiriri, are also poaching animals from the game park. The Kotwa Rural District Council, according to Mr Musandiriri, regularly engage the villagers.
Awareness campaigns along the catchment area which is about 75 000 square metres, are also regularly conducted.
Mr Farai Mutambatuwisi, the acting Kotwa chief executive officer, said communities living around Nyatana are not benefitting much.
“To be honest, we are not happy with what the community is getting from the sale of the animals. It has been a long time since we last got anything. Someone is abusing the funds,” Mr Mutambatuwisi said.
Three Uzumba wards – Chimukoko and Mukota A and D – are supposed to benefit.
Campfire Association director Mr Charles Jonga says illegal gold mining on the banks of Mazowe River is the major driver of the human-animal conflict. He also said as long as the panners are carrying on their activities, local communities will not benefit as much as they should.
“The problem here is illegal gold panning.
The animals have been displaced and it seems as if the locals prefer gold panning to wild life management,” he said.
Apart from the illegal gold miners and poachers, locals are also encroaching on land which was earmarked for the animals. And human settlements have also encroached into the conservancy.
Government has started implementing a Five-Year Global Environment Facility worth between US$5 and US$6 million funded by the World Bank to reduce human-animal conflicts.
The Hwange-Sanyati Biological Corridor project led by WWF Zimbabwe focuses on human and wildlife conflict mitigation and livelihood.
The aim of conflict resolution or management is to reduce the potential for human-wildlife conflicts in order to protect life, safety and security of animal populations, habitat and general biodiversity, and also to minimise damage to property.
According to WWF, human-wildlife conflict is occurring more and more, affecting many different species.
The effects of climate change will probably exacerbate the problem.
Potential solutions to human-animal conflict include electric fencing, community-based natural resource management, compensation, payment for environmental services eco-tourism wildlife friendly products, or other field solutions.
The WWF indicates that there are two types wildlife management- the traditional techniques which aim to stop, reduce or minimise conflict by controlling animal populations in different ways.
Other measures are trans-location, regulation and preservation of animal populations.
The WWF has partnered with a number of organisations to provide solutions for animal-human conflicts around the globe. Their solutions are tailored to the community and species involved.
For example, in Mozambique, communities started to grow more chili pepper plants after making the discovery that elephants dislike and avoid plants containing pepper.
This creative and effective method prevents elephants from trampling community farmers’ fields as well as protects the species.

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