SEMINARS

Robert Thornton, Professor, CV
Department of  Anthropology
University of Witwatersrand

PowerPoint Slides:
Traditional Healers, Bio-medical Pracitice and Sexuality: Prospects and Barriers to Co-operation

This seminar presents, The Project:  Traditional healers' and medical doctors' responses
to HIV/AIDS and potential for co-operation.

=====================================================================

Robert Thornton, Professor,  CV
Department of Anthropology
University of Witwatersrand

Environment and Land in Bushbuckridge, South Africa

PowerPoint Slides:
Complexity, Networks and Environment in the South African Lowveld

The presentation will explain the Bushbuckridge environment and the
potentials for conflict and the politics of land claims and the environment.

=============================================================
Friday, April 25, 2003 - 12:00 Noon, EST

Stuart Marks, Independent Scholar and Consultant

POWERPOINT SLIDES:
Community-Based Wildlife Management in Southern Africa
Two locally constructed narratives from Zambia describe the actors and 
activities centered around two wildlife events. These stories-of a poached 
elephant and of a legally sanctioned harvest of hippos- suggest some of 
the local social/political and technical contingencies inherent in CBWM. 
The local details of these processes are rarely visible to outsiders, yet 
they are significant crafting CBWM initiatives to local circumstances. 
The paper advocates the necessity for examining many of the 
assumptions and universalistic claims for CBWM together with the 
need to understand social differences, diverse institutions, and 
environmental processes.

Papers:
A Cull of Hippos
On Poaching and Elephant
=============================================================
Thursday, May 22, 2003 - 12:00 Noon EST  -  4:00 PM SAST

Peter Rogers, Lecturer
Environmental Studies
Bates College

Global Governance/Governmentality, Wildlife Conservation, 
and Protected Area Management: A Comparative Study of Eastern and Southern Africa

POLITICAL ECOLOGY AND METHODOLOGY FOR PROTECTED AREAS
RESERACH IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA
This paper provides a snapshot of a research project's methodology 
while it is still in the process of being created and refined. The paper 
examines the theoretical concerns of the project, political ecology and 
governmentality, and argues for the real world importance of the topics 
of wildlife conservation and protected area management in sub-Saharan 
Africa. It provides the project's governmentality-influence research 
questions which focus on the "how" of resource use and management. 
The comparative case study methodology of the project is explained, 
and the Serengeti-Mara area of Eastern Africa and the Great Limpopo 
Transfrontier Park of Southern Africa are briefly described. These two 
cases are conceptualized as protected area complexes composed of 
both direct and indirect elements/units of observation. Operationalization 
of the project's research questions and theoretical issues is one of the 
most important items explored in this paper. The role of databases and 
computer-assisted qualitative analysis is next considered. The paper 
concludes by discussing debates of the theoretical position in the 
contemporary political ecology literature and arguing for a recognition 
of the key role of ecological factors in political ecology.
=============================================================
 

For further information contact Conrad Steenkamp at cis@andrew.cmu.edu

Other Relevant Conferences: The conferences listed below are of interest to the TBPA Research
Initiative. If any TBPA-list members intend to participate in these conferences, we would like to know whether they would be interested in acting as informal 'rapporteurs' for us. i.e. to give the list feedback about the conference proceedings and to comment on issues of relevance to our intiative. Volunteers are requested to contact Dr Conrad Steenkamp at cis@andrew.cmu.edu

PEOPLE IN PARKS: Beyond the Debate, Achieving Conservation in Human-Inhabited Protected Areas
Spring 2004 Conference: April 2 - 3, International Society of Tropical Foresters Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Call for Papers
The debate over people in parks has been a fiery one, yet one thing has become clear: Human Inhabited Protected Areas (HIPAs) are a reality of the conservation landscape. Protected area managers and policy-makers acknowledge that areas of high conservation value are already a home and subsistence base for local communities, and are attempting to incorporate these communities in conservation planning. The challenge that remains is how to achieve conservation in HIPAs. Although formally HIPAs are a relatively new phenomenon, some preliminary conclusions about what works and what does not can now be drawn. Major efforts to integrate communities within protected areas have been underway for the last decade, providing time for reflection and analysis of empirical data. Other protected areas that incorporate local community participation may also prove highly instructive for identifying the effective elements to conservation in HIPAs. The Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters will convene all sides of the debate to identify constructive lessons in the effort to create Human-Inhabited Protected Areas of lasting conservation value. Social and natural scientists, resource managers, policy-makers, community leaders and other interested parties will come together to share their experiences dealing with this challenge. We hope the conference will stimulate debate on a range of topics, including but not limited to such questions as: . What policy elements make for effective conservation in HIPAs? . How and when do local people conserve nature? Is there a formula for effective local organization? Under what conditions and institutional frameworks? . How do differing values amongst stakeholders affect reserve viability? How can conflicts between state and communities in HIPAs be transformed? . How can humans and wildlife co-exist in protected areas? Are maximum sustainable yields for forest products and wildlife useful, viable instruments for community-based conservation? . How do HIPAs play into regional conservation strategies and sustainable development programs? . Can communities achieve meaningful quality of life improvements in a conservation-driven regulatory context? How should property rights be allocated between the state and communities, and among communities in HIPAs? How do these allocations affect reserve viability? . Are there some conservation objectives that cannot be achieved through HIPAs? . What constitutes success and how is it measured? We encourage the submission of abstracts based upon primary research, or personal or institutional experience. Persons selected will present full papers at the conference, and typically have the opportunity to publish their work in a peer reviewed journal as part of the proceedings. Although the focus of the conference will be on the tropics, we welcome relevant experiences from around the world. Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words. All correspondence will be addressed to the principal author. In your response, please include the following:
Name(s) of the author(s)
Title and abstract of the paper to be presented
Institution(s) or organization(s) of author(s)' affiliation(s)
Address, telephone, fax and e-mail of the principal author
Please send abstracts to the following address or email address by 23 December 2003:
Yale ISTF Conference
c/o Tropical Resource Institute
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
210 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511
Web site: http://www.yale.edu/istf/
Email: istf@yale.edu

CURRENT GLTP RESEARCH

The objective of this section is to assist GLTP researchers to better contextualise their work and to promote synergies between researchers from different institutions. Participants contribute to and have access to our GLTP literature list. Much of this literature is available at our Wits University office. Please contact Daniel Marnewick MarnewickM@geosciences.wits.ac.za for more information.

Project Principles for Visiting Researchers

Feedback from Lenka Tucek

MEDIA REPORTS

Commercial poaching pressures Zimbabwe's rhinos
25 Aug 2003, WWF Press Release

Harare, Zimbabwe - WWF, in collaboration with the Zimbabwean Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and other conservation agencies, is assisting in emergency responses to increasing rhino poaching in Zimbabwe. Since March 2002, at least 16 black rhinos (Diceros bicornis) and several elephants have been slaughtered in the Matusadona and Hwange National Parks in northern and western Zimbabwe. The Parks and Wildlife Management Authority has responded through enhanced patrol efforts, despite crippling shortages of manpower, fuel, and equipment. Four poachers have been killed in recent firefights, and several have been arrested. WWF-funded operations enabled the relocation of 22 black rhinos from areas of high snaring risk to safer areas during 2002. Future operations are likely to be approved by the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority. Other supporting NGOs, in particular the Marwell Zimbabwe Trust, the Zambezi Society, and the SAVE Foundation of Australia, have helped to deal with the new crisis of commercial rhino poaching in national parks. Over the past three years, at least 15 black rhinos have died in these ranching areas as a consequence of indiscriminate snaring, adding to the ongoing problems of rhino snaring by subsistence poachers in conservancies. Further problems for Zimbabwe's rhinos arose in June when South African 'sport' hunters were involved in the illegal slaughter of a black rhino in southern Zimbabwe. "Prompt action is required by the South African and Zimbabwean authorities to deal with this recent case and to clamp down on the cross-border hunting forays by readily identifiable hunting parties," said Dr.Harrison Kojwang, Regional Representative for WWF in Southern Africa. WWF's rhino specialist, Raoul du Toit, adds "Whereas impoverished Zimbabweans may claim that they are driven to poaching in order to feed themselves, relatively wealthy sport hunters from South Africa have no such excuse - their unethical behaviour is driven by financial interests and by thrill-seeking." During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Zimbabwe's black rhino population fell from about 2,000 to 370, due to commercial poaching perpetrated mainly by gangs from across the northern border. Effective conservation measures then rebuilt the population to about 500. Recently, Zimbabwe's deteriorating economy and land disputes have stimulated poaching for bushmeat, and rhinos are being caught in wire snares. Unemployment and inflating costs of living are driving more and more Zimbabweans into informal occupations, including destructive activities such as uncontrolled gold panning and poaching. The consequent harvesting of wildlife and other natural resources is proving difficult for state conservation agencies to regulate. While it is impossible to quantify the overall loss of wildlife, estimates of 50 to 80 per cent of wildlife being lost from some former commercial farms are widely reported. "The resolution of internal poaching by rural communities is a long-term issue requiring the evolution of equitable and durable land reform arrangements within various sectors of Zimbabwe's complicated wildlife industry," warned Dr Kojwang. "WWF stands ready to assist with technical support in developing these arrangements, which will take a great deal of effort and a willingness by all stakeholders to negotiate workable and sensible solutions on an area-by-area basis."

Editor's note:
Investigations into the shooting of a young female rhino in a conservancy in southern Zimbabwe in June 2003 led to the identification of South African participants in this incident. Some South African
hunters are taking advantage of the unsettled situation in Zimbabwe's rural areas to run illegal safari hunting operations. Members of this network pay small 'trophy fees' to the occupiers of wildlife properties. They then shoot whatever animals they can (including elephants) for meat, hides and trophies, which they market illegally.

For further information:
WWF Southern Africa Regional Programme Office
Tel.: +263 4 252533
E-mail: wwfsarpo@wwf.org.zw

========================================================================
Three Poachers Killed, One Arrested

Tawanda Kanhema
The Herald (Harare)

July 14, 2003--THE poaching war in Gwaai Conservancy has seen at least four rhinos and 20 painted hunting dogs killed in the past two months, with game scouts fighting back and killing three poachers and arresting one who surrendered. The four poachers are suspected to be Zambians. Painted Dog Conservation Trust project manager Mr Peter Blinston said there has been an alarming escalation in the level of poaching recently, with two study packs of painted dogs, comprising about 20 dogs, having been wiped out in the past week. "In the past 18 months, we have lost at least 31 dogs in the Gwaai Conservancy area, which ought to have a dog population of above 60. The poaching is occurring at a very worrying scale," he said. Painted hunting dogs or wild dogs are one of Africa's most endangered species with a mere 3,000 remaining out of 500,000 in 1900. Hunters and poachers kill the dog, a prolific hunter, mainly for its heart and liver, which they believe will enhance their hunting skills. "We are at such a critical point that in six months there will be nothing," zoologist Mr Gregory Rasmussen, who has been working on the conservation project since 1989, said. "There is poaching like I have never seen in 13 years. If it continues like this there will be nothing in the buffer zone." Police in Gwaai found one of the protective collars put on the dogs at a farm worker's house after an anti-poaching team had noticed inconsistencies in the dogs' movements and traced radio signals from one of the missing dogs' collars. Animals that survive poachers' snares are often found with deep cuts on their necks usually inflicted by the wires used to make the snares. In some cases elephants have been found with severed trunks. "If the poaching doesn't stop then the value of national parks and subsequently tourism will go down," Mr Rasmussen said. He noted that poaching has the capability to completely undermine the model A2 resettlement scheme. "The A2 scheme had the objective to make people gain value from the resources but poachers are destroying the wealth," he said. Reports from other parts of the country also indicate that many other species have been seriously affected in the past 18 months, including elephants, giraffe and the endangered black rhinos.

Four rhinos are reported to have been killed in the Sinamatella area in the Hwange National Park in the past two months, bringing the number of black rhinos killed since September last year to 11. "It is a very worrying situation," said the head of the anti-poaching team, Mr Sikhosana Sibanda. "If things continue in this way we will be out of the job in three months . . . there will be no anti-poaching to do." In 2002 alone, poachers killed about 595 impala, 340 kudu, seven giraffes, six elephants and one black rhino. According to estimates by the Zimbabwe Wildlife Producers Association,
half of the country's wildlife has been killed in the past two years.

Mr Blinston blamed the escalation in the level of poaching on the recent drought and high levels of unemployment. "Added to that is the problem of absentee landlords," he said. "Most of the surrounding farms are manned by inexperienced staff who often resort to game as a source of food."

Copyright © 2003 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by
AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).

==========================================================================

This article includes several statistics on the scale of poaching in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe's man claims top reserve for 'hunting'
September 01 2003
Gustav Thiel, The Mercury

Amid weekend reports that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is building a R60-million retirement mansion, it has emerged that one of his closest allies has claimed the world-renowned Hwange Wildlife Estate to be used for hunting purposes. The estate is home to the "presidential herd" of about 500 elephants, which were given special presidential protection in a decree issued by Mugabe
in 1991. Johnny Rodrigues, chairperson of the Zimbabwean Conservation Task Force, said on Sunday that the governor of Matabeleland, Obert Mpofu, "has just simply taken the Hwange estate". "The land will now be a free-for-all for poachers and for him (Mpofu) to allow hunters to kill the animals," he said. Rodrigues said he "would not be surprised if he (Mpofu) next moves to claim land in the Hwange National Park for his own purposes" because there were no fences separating the estate from the park. Hwange National Park is Zimbabwe's biggest game reserve at 14 650km2. Rodrigues added that people like Mpofu "are putting a death sentence on the future heritage of the country and the benefits that wildlife conservation would have had for the people of the country". It has been estimated that more than $400-million (about R2,9-billion) has been lost in Zimbabwe's southern region because of rampant poaching.

Mpofu should understand the 'folly of allowing hunting at Hwange' Bambo Kadzombe, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Wildlife Advisory Council, said: "Three thousand animals have been poached so far on commercial game farms and Zimbabwe's conservancies, mainly at Save Valley, Mahenye, Bubiyana
conservancy, Bubye Valley and Chiredzi River conservancy." In 2002, more than 100 poachers had been arrested and Kadzombe said that if the poaching continued species could become extinct. Rodrigues said it was with that in mind that Mpofu should understand the "folly of allowing hunting at Hwange". He said over the past five years more than 300 of the remaining black rhino in Zimbabwe had been killed. A wildlife researcher based in Zimbabwe said the taking of the land by Mpofu
could jeopardise the inclusion of Zimbabwe's Gonarezhou Park in the Limpopo Transfrontier Park, combining three national parks in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.

=======================================================================

Fire devastates game park in Mozambique

September 10, 2003 - Reuters MAPUTO, Mozambique - A fire sparked by hunters looking for rats to eat is devastating a Mozambique game park that shook off its battlefield past to become a haven for rare wildlife, officials said Tuesday. The fire, which raged for a third day Tuesday, has gutted the northern half of the 1,456-square-mile Gorongosa National Park, driving elephants, buffalo, warthogs, and other animals and birds into over populated areas. Park wardens fear that in their search for shelter, the animals could jump out of the fire and into the frying pans of poor villagers, who may try to snare them as a protein-rich supplement to their meager diet. Gorongosa is also home to lions, leopards, zebras, and hippos as well as about 500 species of birds, such as the green-headed oriole and the mustached warbler. Founded in 1921, the park was one of the main battlefields in Mozambique's 16-year civil war, which ended in 1992. Having changed hands between government troops and rebels several times during the war, it became a haven for poachers before its revival, with help from the European Union and international lenders such as the African Development Bank. Firefighters have been unable to get the fire under control, said park administrator Roberto Zolho, but he added that his team was doing everything possible to contain the inferno. He said the fires were apparently started by poor villagers hunting rats to eat. Fires can be used to drive rats into traps.

======================================================================

Breaking down borders in Africa
Tamar Kahn
22 September 2003
Source: SciDev.Net

======================================================================

llegal hunts wiping out Zimbabwe's wildlife
By Melanie Gosling, November 5, 2003

Zimbabwe wildlife is being slaughtered by poachers, biltong hunters and illegal safari operators who are taking advantage of the country's unsettled situation to fill their pockets. South Africans are believed to be among the illegal operators, as are Zimbabwe government officials. Desperate environmentalists, trying to keep tabs on the illegal hunting, believe up to 80% of the wild animals on Zimbabwe's wildlife conservancies and about 60% in Zimbabwe's national parks have been wiped out. The World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Southern African regional office in Harare says illegal safari operators from South Africa pay small "trophy fees" to people who are occupying wildlife properties, which enables them to shoot any animals - including elephants - for meat, hides and trophies, all of which are exported illegally. WWF said in a statement recently that 16 endangered black rhino and several elephants had been slaughtered in Matusadona and Hwange National Parks. They said Zimbabwe's deteriorating economy and land disputes had stimulated poaching for "bushmeat", and rhinos were being caught in bushmeat snares. WWF's rhino specialist, Raoul du Toit, said while impoverished Zimbabweans may claim to be driven to poaching to feed themselves, unethical sport hunters were driven by money and thrill-seeking. Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, said three elephants had been shot in Hwange Estate last week. "Last week 40 protected sable were exported. It is so easy to forge signatures on export permits," Rodrigues said yesterday. Rodrigues has lists of registration numbers of people seen hunting illegally in Zimbabwe, many of whom come from Limpopo province. Zimbabwe National Parks staff have been seen in the company of South African hunters. Paul Bristow, who has a cattle and game farm near Beit Bridge, said two South Africans had moved onto his property two weeks ago to hunt for biltong and skins. They claimed they had been given permission by war veterans. The Hunting Report, a newsletter for hunters published in the United States, has warned American hunters that safaris are being conducted illegally in Zimbabwe. "The illegal hunts are being conducted on lands that have been occupied by so-called war veterans who don't own these lands or possess the rights to wildlife on them. "The South African professional hunters are simply capitalising on the lawlessness and disorder in Zimbabwe," the newsletter said. Gary Davies, chief executive director of the Professional Hunters' Association of SA, said yesterday he had heard reports of illegal hunting, which the association condemned. "If they are our members we will take action, but so far we've only heard accusations and no one has come up with anything to substantiate the claims," Davies said. The Cape Times was unable to get comment from Zimbabwe National Parks or the country's department of environment and tourism. Tony Frost of WWF-South Africa said yesterday: "We decry in the strongest terms any form of illegal or unethical hunting. It is a tragedy." - Environment Writer

======================================================================

Zimbabwe: State to Curb Poaching By New Farmers
Zimbabwe Standard (Harare), November 23, 2003
John Makura

CASES of poaching will continue unabated if the government does not urgently control the activities of the so-called new farmers and recruit more game guards, The Standard has learnt. Presenting a paper on the impact of the land reform on wildlife at a conference of the Zimbabwe Indigenous Safari Operators Association (ZISOA), Vitalis Chadenga, a director with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, recently said during the fast track phase of the land reform programme, the emphasis was land first and all else later. "Little or no attention was paid to the security of wildlife outside the (national) parks estate. This has the effect of foreclosing wildlife production as a legitimate land use option particularly for those settlers in areas where agricultural potential is limited by erratic rainfall and poor soils," said Chadenga. "The problem of poaching was particularly acute during the first 18 months of the programme when even our flagship species like the rhino became incidental victims of bush meat snaring," added Chadenga, in a speech read on his behalf. The one-day conference was also told that the department of national parks was severely understaffed with 635 game guards out of an approved establishment of 966. Of the 635 guards, many were now too old to conduct patrols while several others are manning tourist offices and entrance gates into the parks. A senior official in the department, L Mungwashu said anti-poaching efforts were being hampered by the limited distribution of parks' offices in the country and an ageing vehicle fleet. He said in many cases, the department failed to respond in time to reports of poaching due to its ageing vehicles. He also pointed out that there was very little reward for whistle blowers hence people usually did not report poaching cases. Poaching activities are on the rise since the government embarked on the resettlement of landless blacks on former white commercial properties, including game farms. Chadenga, in his statement, said the settlement of people on game ranches had also resulted in the loss of the geographical range and natural habitats following indiscriminate burning and cutting down of trees. "This has led to the erosion of confidence in the integrity of the country's wildlife management authority as well as undermining our drive to promote wildlife farming as a legitimate land use option," he said. He said the first year of the controversial resettlement programme had witnessed about 90 percent decline in tourist arrivals at game ranches and the extensive poaching that followed had destroyed the resource base beyond redemption in some areas. "The destruction of game proof veterinary fences, absence of rehabilitation of game and consequent increase in buffalo/cattle contact, created conditions conducive to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease. The subsequent outbreak of foot and mouth and the extent of its spread can be traced back to increased cattle/buffalo contact," he added. Until 2000, wildlife farming was a major component of agriculture in Zimbabwe. Many white farmers were exploiting the multiple uses of wildlife particularly hunting and eco-tourism. Although protected areas hold more buffalo and elephant populations, commercial farms contributed significantly to the general wildlife estate in Zimbabwe, said the natural resources' experts.

OBJECTIVES

CURRENT

MEDIA REPORTS

SEMINARS

FELLOWSHIP

CONTACTS

REFERENCES

LINKS

BACK TO TOP

CONTACTS

Dr. Conrad Steenkamp, (cis@andrew.cmu.edu) Program Director, Carnegie Mellon University, Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change

Daniel Marnewick, (MarnewickM@geosciences.wits.ac.za) Administrative Officer, Transboundary Protected Areas Research Initiative

Joana Lucas, (joanalucas@webmail.co.za) Office Manager, Wits Rural Facility Office, Limpopo Province

KEY REFERENCES

LINKS