AFRICAT’S LION GUARDIANS ON THE MOVE... CHRISTMAS PATROLS IN THEIR GPTF –SPONSORED 4X4 VEHICLE: africat.org/program/human-wildlife-conflict It’s this time of year again....whilst most of us are decorating our favourite Christmas tree and preparing Christmas Dinner with friends and family, AfriCat’s Lion Guardians are out in the field at 40 degrees C heat, dust and gruelling terrain, patrolling the human-lion ‘hot-spots’ in a number of Kunene’s Communal Conservancies. This year, however, our dedicated, Lion Guardian team comprising German, Titus, Jackson & Kandavii, received an early Christmas gift - a brand new Toyota Hilux 4x4 pick-up, sponsored by the Game Products Trust Fund (GPTF), enabling them to cover greater distances, meet with more farmers and monitor the AfriCat mitigation programmes in the Human-Wildlife conflict zones of Namibia’s northwest. In order to increase the effectiveness of the Lion Guardian Team in the field, AfriCat applied for funding to purchase such a vehicle, which was handed to them on Friday 19 December. Each year, the Christmas Patrols extend from approx. mid-December to mid-January, assisting the Ministry of Environment & Tourism and the Communal Conservancies with essential monitoring, community support and protection of our valuable wildlife resources. AfriCat’s Lion Guardians will continue to monitor & report on lion whereabouts, encourage and guide farmers to adopt the AfriCat Livestock Protection programme, report incidents, patrol fences with Ministry of Environment & Tourism (MET), monitor & report poaching and other illegal activities, identify priority villages for kraal-building and carry the message of Conservation from the highest authorities to the farmer. Essentially, these four men are assigned to various areas, elected by their communities. German, a Chief-in-waiting, is based in Otjokovare, the ‘captial’ of the Ehirovipuka Conservancy and co-ordinates the Lion Guardian activities; Titus, is based along Etosha’s western boundary, covering an area of approx. 60 km2 on horse-back. Jackson hails from the Arisona farming community along the south-western border of Hobatere and Kandavii along the western border. These men play a vital role in protecting the Hobatere lions and mitigating lion-farmer conflict on communal farmland. NOTE: ‘The Game Products Trust Fund receives revenue from hunting concessions, live export head levies, park entrance fees, wildlife auctions, trophy hunting and sale of ivory, in support of the conservation and management of wildlife resources and of rural development, in Namibia; to provide for the management and control of that Fund by the Game Products Trust Fund Board. The GPTF a) makes grants to emerging conservancies and wildlife councils for the purposes of implementing and maintaining projects and programmes, approved by the Board in consultation with the Minister, regarding wildlife conservation and management and rural development; (b) allocates funds, subject to the provisions of this Act, to conservancies, wildlife councils and protected areas, and to persons, organisations and institutions approved by the Minister; (c) supports measures aimed at improving the relationship between people and wildlife; and (d) supports improvements in the monitoring, management, protection, sustainable use and development of wildlife resources in rural areas’. (web-site: GPTF Financial Report / GPTF Act – FAOLEX)
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 04:59:52 +0000
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