14 Mar 2008 - KwaZulu
Natal, South Africa – After bringing Africa’s
black rhinos spectacularly back from the
brink of extinction one of the
world’s most successful conservation programmes
is to celebrate its first decade by seeking
to extend its operations to more of Africa.
Representatives of the
governments of Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique,
Tanzania and Zambia are expected to join
in WWF’s African Rhino Programme (ARP) 10th
anniversary celebration in KwaZulu Natal,
South Africa, today. They will join government
and wildlife representatives, community
representatives and eco-tourism operators
from the current ARP participating States
of in South Africa, Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
“What we have shown
is that in partnership with governments
and communities and business it is possible
to stave off extinction for the rhino in
some of its former range,” said WWF International’s
Species Programme Director Dr Susan Lieberman.
“The task now is to secure a future for
the rhino in the rest of its range, where
threats from poaching and development urgently
need to be addressed.”
Africa’s savannas once
teemed with more than a million white and
black rhinos. However, relentless hunting
by European settlers saw rhino numbers and
distribution quickly decline. The southern
white rhino was close to extinction by the
late 19th century but concerted conservation
efforts by KwaZulu Natal and others has
led to a significantly larger population.
Added to hunting and
habitat loss, trade in rhino horn peaked
in the 1970s and 1980s, when huge quantities
were shipped to the lucrative markets of
the Middle East and Asia.
Responding to the crisis,
both species of African rhino were listed
in 1977 in Appendix I of the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which prohibited
all international trade of rhino parts and
products. Despite this international legal
protection, the black rhino population at
its lowest point dipped to 2,400 in 1995.
In 1997, there were
8,466 white rhinos and 2,599 black rhinos
remaining in the wild. Today, there are
14,500 white rhinos and nearly 4,000 of
the more endangered black rhinos.
Today, most of Africa’s
black rhinos are found in South Africa,
Namibia, Kenya and Zimbabwe, where the species’
decline has been stopped through effective
security monitoring, better biological management,
wildlife-based tourism and extensive assistance
to enable communities to benefit from rather
than be in conflict with wildlife.
According to the African
Rhino Specialist Group of the IUCN Species
Survival Commission, Africa’s white and
black rhino numbers have shown annual growth
rates of 6.8 per cent and 4.5 per cent,
respectively, since 1995.
“What we know from looking
back at the last ten years is that sustained
conservation can and does work,” says George
Kampamba, WWF International’s African Rhino
Programme Coordinator.
Although WWF has worked
on Rhino conservation throughout its 45-year
history, the ARP was notable for its overall
approach. Working through field projects,
it combined action at every level from local
communities to global policy.
One striking, if unanticipated,
indicator of the success of the programme
is that land prices immediately increase
in areas where rhinos are re-introduced
through a range expansion program. The ARP,
which has had experience reintroducing rhinos
to national parks, also passed a milestone
last year when a KwaZulu Natal community
received black rhinos for community-owned
land dedicated to wildlife and ecotourism
uses.
“Rhino conservation
in Africa is going from strength to strength,”
said Dr Susan Lieberman, Director of WWF’s
Global Species Programme. “But poaching,
illegal trade, and unplanned development
remain significant problems across the rhinos’
range and there is no room for complacency.”
In celebration of a
decade of rhino conservation, WWF honoured
six leaders as “rhino champions” today at
Pongola Game Reserve in KwaZulu Natal. "These
rhino champions have made extraordinary
contributions to rhino conservation,"
Dr Lieberman said.
The champions are:.
Emmanuel-Cebo Gumbi (known as “Nathi Gumbi”)
director Somkhanda Game Reserve and member
of the Gumbi royal family
Kevin John Pretorius, regional director
for Phinda Game Reserve
Clive Vivier, owner Leopold Mountain Game
Reserve
Manfred Kohrs, former chairman Pongola Game
Reserve Association
Dr Jacques Flammand, project leader WWF/Ezemvelo
KZN Wildlife Black Rhino Range Expansion
Project.
Taye Teferi, conservation director of WWF’s
East Africa Regional Program
Jackson Kamwi, Senior Rhino Monitor at the
Lowveld Conservancy Project, Zimbabwe
