Zim to host African Elephant Conservation Conference

Zim to host African Elephant Conservation Conference

Hosia Mviringi

Hwange National Park is set to host the African Elephant Conservation Conference slated for May 23 to May 26.

This was revealed by Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu in an update to cabinet yesterday.

Minister Ndlovu said the event is a culmination of a commitment which Zimbabwe made earlier this year to host the Conference.

“The nation will recall that Cabinet earlier on approved the hosting of the Conference, which is primarily meant to discuss and prepare for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 19th Conference of Parties (COP 19), scheduled for November 2022 in Panama,” said Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa in an address to the media.

The Conference is set to equip participants with scientific research data on African Elephant Conservation and management as well as assess the successes and failures recorded so far.

The conference is geared towards galvanising support for African Conservation efforts and to push forward collective measures to ensure effective and sustainable Elephant conservation in Southern Africa.

African countries are expected to adopt a common position especially as they head for the COP 19 to push for a moratorium on the ban on sale of ivory which is derived from natural death of elephants and occasional culling in cases where human-wildlife conflict is detected.

“Government emphasises that the CITES COP 19 is critical in the country’s conservation and management programmes, especially that of elephants and stockpiled product. The outcome of the African Elephant Conference should, therefore, be mutually beneficial to all parties, including communities, wildlife, the environment and government,” said Minister Mutsvangwa.

CITES keeps in place a blanket ban on the trade in products from classified wildlife endangered species. The ban does not take into consideration special cases such as Zimbabwe where the elephant population now exceeds the carrying capacity of parks, resulting in untold tales of human – wildlife conflict. It ignores the right of communities to live safely and in harmony with nature.

A controlled sale of naturally harvested ivory will result in improved funding towards securing neighbouring communities while capacitating conservation efforts such as anti-poaching, tracking and water provision.

“In particular there is need to look objectively into the issue of the in elephant products as well as human -wildlife conflict issues in affected communities, and this Conference provides the appropriate discussion platform,” Minister Mutsvangwa said.

The Conference will be attended by a total of 150 delegates from across Africa including responsible Ministers from 16 Western, ,Eastern, Southern and Central African countries.

These will be joined by Accredited Diplomats to Zimbabwe, Non-State actors such as the CAMPFIRE Association, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Chiefs and local communities representatives.