The Ministry of Environment and Tourism is alarmed by recent activities of poaching of rhinos and the illegal possession of fourteen rhino horns in the country, it announced today. Together with the Namibian Police. ministry officials are investigating these illegal activities further.
Due to the sensitivity of ongoing cases which are still under investigation and before the courts of law, “we have not been able to give answers to questions very specific to ongoing cases from various media houses. I would therefore like to assure the general public that when the time is right, a competent government authority will release appropriate information, as it was done by the Namibian Police on these cases earlier,” said acting permanent secretary Teofilus Nghitila.
Since controlling a surge in poaching in the late 1980s and early 1990s Namibia has experienced insignificant levels of illegal killing of wildlife, particularly of rhinos and elephants said Nghitila. “ The changes in Protected Areas and Wildlife Management Policies that followed with Independence and the rapid growth of the Community Based Natural Resource Management and the Conservancy Programme in particular have no doubt contributed to the upward population trends shown by most wildlife species in the country,” he said.
However according to Nghitilia, “poaching may therefore have severe economic implications through adverse impacts on tourism and trophy hunting. The current illegal wildlife related activities clearly need to be brought under control.”
“The Government of Namibia condemns such ill-intentioned activities of rhino poaching and call(s) upon those involved to refrain from such activities with immediate effect or risk their chances of being caught and face the full wrath of the law,” said the PS.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism will strengthen its efforts in effective crime prevention and law enforcement through a coordination and integration of clusters of activities such as planning, monitoring and adaptive management as well as upholding a strong and effective presence on the ground. Dedicated investigation units that focus on criminal syndicates and organised crime will be created to collaborate with the police, army, judiciary, intelligence service, communities and farmers. Training and retraining of ministerial staff members is also on the cards.
Due to the sensitivity of ongoing cases which are still under investigation and before the courts of law, “we have not been able to give answers to questions very specific to ongoing cases from various media houses. I would therefore like to assure the general public that when the time is right, a competent government authority will release appropriate information, as it was done by the Namibian Police on these cases earlier,” said acting permanent secretary Teofilus Nghitila.
Since controlling a surge in poaching in the late 1980s and early 1990s Namibia has experienced insignificant levels of illegal killing of wildlife, particularly of rhinos and elephants said Nghitila. “ The changes in Protected Areas and Wildlife Management Policies that followed with Independence and the rapid growth of the Community Based Natural Resource Management and the Conservancy Programme in particular have no doubt contributed to the upward population trends shown by most wildlife species in the country,” he said.
However according to Nghitilia, “poaching may therefore have severe economic implications through adverse impacts on tourism and trophy hunting. The current illegal wildlife related activities clearly need to be brought under control.”
“The Government of Namibia condemns such ill-intentioned activities of rhino poaching and call(s) upon those involved to refrain from such activities with immediate effect or risk their chances of being caught and face the full wrath of the law,” said the PS.
The Ministry of Environment and Tourism will strengthen its efforts in effective crime prevention and law enforcement through a coordination and integration of clusters of activities such as planning, monitoring and adaptive management as well as upholding a strong and effective presence on the ground. Dedicated investigation units that focus on criminal syndicates and organised crime will be created to collaborate with the police, army, judiciary, intelligence service, communities and farmers. Training and retraining of ministerial staff members is also on the cards.
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