By Evans Dakwa
Harare– Stakeholders attending the SADC Transfrontier Conservation Areas International Conference at Harare’s Ranibow Towers have been called upon to use the gathering not only to celebrate the milestone, but use it to come up with strategies to deal with the problem of Human Wildlife Conflict and prioritization of local communities within the conservation area.
The call was made by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Ambassador T Chifamba as welcomed delegates to the conference.
“As we celebrate 25 years of the SADC TFCA programme, we must also focus on enhancing local community engagement and beneficiation. There can be no conservation without local communities who since time immemorial have lived and carefully conserved the natural resources that we so dearly enjoy today. “
” We therefore need this conference to consider innovative ways of ensuring communities are well capacitated, supported and directly benefit from the TFCA programme. Tied to this is the need to address Human Wildlife Conflict. This conference should ensure that all the available mitigation and response measures are explored and evaluated, “said Ambassador Chifamba.
He also reiterated the need for delegates to devise ways to ensure a sustainable financing model is found and implemented.
” Without adequate resources, our efforts to conserve and manage these vital ecosystems will fall short. In this regard I urge all of you to put your best feet forward and come up with sustainable financing frameworks to ensure the TFCA programme is sustainable now and into the future. We need to consider how we can rope in the private sector and ensure TFCA attract not only grants but also private capital,” he urged.
The SADC TFCA is a regional conservation initiative meant to foster integrated and effective management of transboundary landscapes and seascapes, ensuring that they thrive for generations to come. The conference is running under the theme: SADC Transfrontier Conservation Areas, 25 Years of Cooperation for Regional Intergration and Sustainable Development.