07 May 2009 - South Africa’s
declaration to
establish one of the world’s largest Marine
Protected Area’s (MPA) around its Prince
Edward Islands, is a marine conservation
achievement of global importance which will
help protecting a suite of spectacular wildlife,
including albatrosses, penguins and killer
whales.
The announcement of
Environment Minister Marthinus Christoffel
Johannes van Schalkwyk, came after many
years of close cooperation between the government
and WWF.
The Islands, which consist
of Prince Edward and Marion Islands, are
located almost 2000 km south of South Africa
in the Southern Ocean, and form an important
global biodiversity hotspot, which was subject
to rampant poaching during the late 11000’s.
“This is a historic
day in marine conservation in South Africa.
All of South Africa’s current MPAs are located
very close inshore. The commitment of the
first large offshore MPA moves South Africa
into a new era of marine conservation,”
Dr Deon Nel, head of the WWF Sanlam Living
Waters Partnership, said.
The Prince Edward Islands
is among the world’s most important and
diverse regions. But the islands, home to
albatrosses, penguins and killer whales,
have been threatened by illegal and irresponsible
fishing practices in the past. The illegal
fishing vessels around the PEIs were targeting
Patagonian Toothfish. And the Albatross
species were killed as bycatch in these
operations.
Given the scarcity of
land masses in the Southern Ocean, sub-Antarctic
islands contain vast populations of seals
and seabirds, which use these islands to
breed and moult and are therefore critical
to the conservation of such species
The islands support
some 13% of King Penguins worldwide, and
five Species of Albatross breed there together
with 14 species of petrels and five other
species.
“South Africa has made
a globally significant commitment to our
oceans through its intention to declare
this large MPA.,” Jim Leape, Director General
of WWF International said.
“In particular, South
Africa plays a key role with several other
countries including Australia, France and
New Zealand, in protecting the amazing biodiversity
and commercially important fisheries of
the sub-Antarctic and, through this, helps
to establish a fully representative, viable
and effective MPA network for the Southern
Ocean.”
+ More
Major Cameroon raid
nets key poachers, weapons and huge bushmeat
haul
07 May 2009 - Yaoundé,
Cameroon: Authorities in southeast Cameroon
last week seized more than 1,000 kgs of
illegal bush meat and guns, and arrested
15 wildlife poachers in an unprecedented
police operation.
Prompted by concerns
about poaching from WWF, the Cameroon Ministry
of Forestry and Wildlife organized a major
week-long anti poaching operation in the
region in tandem with the national military.
A combined unit of soldiers, police and
game rangers uncovered more than 1,000 kg
of bush meat, the remains of which included
several protected species: gorillas, elephants,
and chimpanzees. They also confiscated more
than 30 guns from the suspected poachers,
including high calibre rifles and illegally
owned war weapons (AK-47’s).
Among those arrested
was a municipal councilor, suspected of
being a white collar elephant poacher based
in the town of Moloundou, south of Nki National
Park. Three other notorious elephant poachers,
a Central African, a Congolese and a Cameroonian
were arrested around Boumba Bek and Lobeke
National Parks.
WWF is now calling on
the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife to
push for the swift prosecution of the 15
suspected poachers arrested to properly
complete last week’s spectacular anti-poaching
drive.
“The Ministry of Forestry
and Wildlife deserves praises in taking
this bold step to check what had become
a rampant and uncontrolled destruction of
species by a few individuals to the detriment
of the local population”, said Natasha K.
Quist, Regional Representative for WWF in
Central Africa. “However, the success of
this operation should be measured by the
effectiveness of the judicial process brought
against the suspects. We must avoid a situation
whereby the same people who have been arrested
are back in the forest the very next day
to continue with illegal activities”, she
noted.
The operation was carried
out in targeted villages with the help of
local traditional rulers and the local population.
The teams also carried out in-forest and
maritime patrols during which two elephant
tusks, three elephant tails and great ape
parts were confiscated.
“It is critical for
both government and other stakeholders to
examine the alarming wildlife decimation
in order to forestall what could turn out
to be a regrettable carnage and irreversible
loss of biodiversity”, says Martin Tchamba,
national director for WWF Cameroon. “We
need to urgently work out the causes of
the present poaching upsurge and determine
appropriate actions in order to safeguard
key wildlife species in and around the parks”.
For almost two decades,
WWF has been active in southeast Cameroon,
working to support both the authorities
and the local people in their efforts to
protect a unique forest environment and
the precious eco-systems it contains.
Anti poaching efforts
spearheaded by Cameroon’s Ministry of Forestry
and Wildlife, and supported by WWF, so far
have produced significant results.
Some 59 people were
charged with forest and wildlife related
crime in the Southeast of Cameroon in 2008.
Among the accused, 54 face charges of poaching
protected species and illegally carrying
guns (among which were about 20 war guns,
or Kalashnikovs) while five were accused
of illegal wood exploitation. The courts
so far have heard and decided 49 cases,
sentencing 47 people to between 10 days
and three year jail terms. The court also
has issued fines ranging between FCFA 27,000
and 2.7 million (approx. between 50 and
5,000 US $). Two of the suspects have been
acquitted while 10 are still facing trial.
