African Wildlife and Environment Issue 65

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

horn sales, will instead lead to the rapid demise of these species. WESSA is opposed to the current trade proposal as it principally carries an unacceptable high risk of being corrupted by the poaching syndicates and illegal horn traders, and that re-opening legal trade will encourage a growth in horn consumer demand and speculative buying. This will undoubtedly exacerbate rhino poaching above current levels; as what has been experienced in the massive upsurge in the poaching of elephants in their tens of thousands each year, in the wake of the CITES-approved ‘once-off’ sales of elephant ivory in 1999 and 2008. TRAFFIC and WWF have also concluded that any resumption in trade is most likely to stimulate poaching and lead to the decline in these species. The risk of implementing trade is highly likely to be a disaster for rhinos, and will probably also open Pandora’s Box for other wildlife targeted for illicit trade. The Private Rhino Owners Association (PROA) differs strongly in this view, but they desperately want to gain financially from horn trade (and it is worth millions per annum). Another case of money first, conservation second? It seems where money is to be made from mining, then nothing is sacred. WESSA has been part of the iMfolozi Communities & Wilderness Alliance (iCWA) protesting the proposed Ibutho Coal (Fuleni) Mine right along the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (HIP) fenceline. Despite the significant impact that this would have on the HIP and on the Fuleni villages, which have been protesting the loss of their communal lands, Ibutho Coal is persisting in its application. The Department of Mineral Resources didn’t even reject their initial application on the grounds that it would be impacting on a Wilderness Area of international importance, that it would set an unacceptable precedent for allowing mining within buffer zones around Protected Areas and that it contravened the DMR’s own 2013 Mining and Biodiversity Guidelines. Now another mining applicant, Tendele Coal, is proposing a similar mine further north along the HIP fenceline (Esinyembeni area). And iCWA is gearing up to support the Esinyembeni villages determine their own, more sustainable future. In the foreword of the Mining and Biodiversity Guidelines, the National Minister of Mineral Resources states: “some places are sacrosanct as they have such high conservation value that we together commit not to disturb.” It seems that these were just words to be ignored when somebody stood to make money. UK newspaper, The Guardian , has exposed how the Botswana Department of Mining has just granted extensive fracking concessions across the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, apparently without discussing it with the Botswana Departments of Tourism and Environmental Affairs. Nor was it discussed with our SANParks, who manages the South African part of this Transfrontier Park. While the Botswana Government has issued denials that they have sold off the family silver, the UK-listed company Karoo Energy has confirmed that

in 2004 to 7.7% in 2012. If we include all the private and communally-owned hunting and nature reserves which have not been registered as formal protected areas, then this percentage is much higher. For coastal and inshore ecosystem, 59% are threatened, compared with 41% of offshore ecosystem types threatened. Only 9.25% of our coastline is protected as no-take zones (2 nd South Africa Environment Outlook 2013), even less now that Dwesa-Cwebe and parts of the Tsitsikamma MPA have been opened for fishing. In December, despite hundreds of submissions against the proposal, the Minister of Environmental Affairs opened up parts of the Tsitsikamma MPA to recreational fishing for specific communities. Not for subsistence needs, but recreational wants. The TNP MPA was declared a no-take in 2001 by Minister Valli Moosa because of the urgent and scientifically-justified need to protect the national line-fish stocks from total collapse. The displaced fishing communities have since been politically agitating to regain fishing access. While WESSA supports the sustainable utilisation of natural resources, we also voiced opposition to the opening proposal, based on the central argument that this fishing was not sustainable at the national level. This is because the Tsitsikamma is a brood-stock and dispersal area of national importance. By depleting it, it significantly threatens the fishing potential for a significant portion of our coastline and puts severe pressure on already low stock levels of 11 threatened line-fish species. Social studies in the Tsitsikamma area have revealed that desire for fishing access has largely come from the older generation-to regain lost access-and has not been driven by the larger youth population, and that the small-scale fishing poaching was not a major contributor to nutrition of this region. There have been allegations of strong political lobbying to get this MPA opened, and there is a historical pattern of attempts to get fishing access in the lead-up to national and local elections. It has also been suggested that the opening was a mechanism to legalise the poaching that had been occurring. So we have a case of human wants and political expediency trumping well-researched and long term conservation management imperatives. The same can be said of the attempts now to legalise domestic rhino horn trade. This week the DEA lost their ConCourt bid to keep the domestic trade moratorium in place. The Private Rhino Owners Association (PROA) has expressed their delight in reopening domestic trade, which they claim will reduce rhino poaching. Currently, and in contradiction to their ConCourt Case, DEA has published draft regulations for domestic horn trade. The critical issue here is that there is no domestic horn market in South Africa. While WESSA has no objection against bona fide rhino hunters exporting horn trophies (that remain as trophies), the draft trade regulations basically enable export of horn for unlimited personal ‘use’-which is in contravention with the CITES horn trade ban. It is WESSA’s considered opinion that the resumption of the trade in horn of rhino species Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis , for the intended purposes of reducing poaching demand and profiteering from

Reserve boundaries UNDER PRESSURE

Our economy has just been downgraded to junk status by President Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle, the Rand has consequently dipped heavily and we are coming to understand what considerable economic strain that we as individuals and as a country are now likely to face. Our environment is also facing increasing pressures: from mining, pollution, land transformation, poaching, climate change and the current drought.

Morgan Griffiths Photograph: John Wesson

inadequate for sustaining biodiversity and ecological processes: only 22% of our terrestrial ecosystem types are well protected and 35% completely unprotected. However, there has been a positive increase in the land-based protected area network from just below 6%

Most of South Africa’s protected biodiversity falls behind conservation fences and boundary lines. According to the National Biodiversity Assessment, 39% of our terrestrial ecosystem types are threatened. South Africa’s land-based protected area network is

34 |

35 | African Wildlife & Environment | 65 (2017)