We have so many activites ongoing in SADC TFCAs that we thought we should bring you small snapshots and let your curiosity do the rest.

Remember, if you want more information on activities and progress of each SADC TFCA, please access the presentations from the 2018 Meeting, in session II!

KAZA TFCA Collaborative partnership: In August 2018, the German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Dr. Gerd Müller, visited the largest terrestrial transfrontier conservation area in the world, the Kavango–Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) covering Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Click here to access the full article. 

WCS Nyassa Project: During the 2018 Meeting we met James Bampton, the new WCS Country Director for Mozambique, who is working with ANAC in the Nyassa Nature Reserve to ensure the three pillars of SADC TFCAs provide the foundations for the future of the Reserve, its ecoystem, wildlife and people, and to embarking on a Co-management Agreement. Here is a small update from Mozambique: 

Interactions relating to the Niassa-Selous TFCA has been quiet lately but parties on both sides are interested in resuming more frequent and structured exchanges that lead to practical collaboration. With this in mind, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the co-manager of Niassa National Reserve (NNR)with the National Conservation Area Administration (ANAC) of Mozambique, has obtained some funding to hold an exchange between NNR and Selous Game Reserve (SGR) Administrations and local government representatives once the worst of the wet season has passed. Over the last year, the NNR Administrator, Baldeu Araquechande, NNR law enforcement personnel and local government officials from Mecula district in particular have interacted with authorities with NNR's neighbouring districts the other side of the Rovuma river to discuss anti-poaching cooperation and other issues of mutual interest. As NNR and SGR do not directly border each other, the priorities from the NNR side have been to establish effective communication and collaboration immediately across the border. The upcoming exchange will be an opportunity to build on these recent constructive meetings to engage a broader set of Niassa-Selous TFCA  stakeholders and move forward the greater TFCA concept for this uniquely important landscape for the conservation of eastern miombo woodlands and its resident biodiversity and to prepare the ground for a joint Management Council meeting subsequently.

For more information, please contact James: jbampton[at]wcs[dot]org

Southern African Widlife College: The College, which hosted our 2018 annual meeting, has been very busy with training and suporting anti-poachign operations in the Greater Kruger area through its K9 unit. that recevied the prestigious Kudu Award at the end of last year. In addition, this year a new award was presented in memory of the late Ernest Mokganedi, the long-standing Director of Transfrontier Conservation Areas at the Department of Environmental Affairs in South Africa, and Director of the SAWC Board. This award was presented by Aruna Seepersadh, Deputy Director at the Department to the student who excelled in the Transfrotier Conservation module, African Parks’ Steve Wemba from Malawi.

Click here for more information on the Mokganedi Award and other SAWC Awards for students. 

Attached is the 2018 SAWC Newsletter for more information on the activities of the College.

NEW: Wildife Trafficking report. In November 2018, Annette Hübschle, a South African criminologist, who has been undertaking work on wildlife crimes for many year, has co-authored with Clifford Shearinga a celebrated report on her findings, with specific interest on SADC TFCAs. 

"A large number of anti-poaching, conservation and management measures have been implemented to protect rhinos. None of these responses has achieved tangible results in lowering unnatural rhino deaths through illegal hunting in southern Africa. The international donor community, conservation NGOs and governments have disbursed millions of dollars to fight this illegal wildlife trade, and continue to do so. We argue in this report that these measures are bound to fail, as they do not engage with the most important change agents in conservation: local people who live in or near protected areas and game reserves. The report therefore aims to provide a better understanding of why African rural communities participate in wildlife economies, both legal and illegal, and how alternative, community-oriented strategies can help build a more resilient response to organized wildlife crime than has hitherto been achieved." Click here for the full report.