Nyusi urges protection of wild life

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Nyusi urges protection of wild life

8:34 CAT | 30 Apr 2018

O País

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday urged the population of the tourist resort of Ponta do Ouro, in the far south of the country, to protect the wild life resources of the region.

Pont do Ouro, on the border with the South African province of Kwazulu Natal, contains a marine reserve, and is close to the Maputo Special Reserve (once known as the Maputo Elephant Reserve), which contains a wide variety of birds and mammals.

The wild life must be protected. Nyusi declared, at a rally in Ponta do Ouro on the first day of a four day tour of Maputo province. He pointed out that tourists do not come to Ponta do Ouro merely for its pristine beaches, but also to visit the Special Reserve.

If the local population harbours poachers, Nyusi warned, or engage in illegal hunting themselves, the animals will be wiped out and tourist will no longer come to the region. Since tourism is the major economic activity of this area, a loss of tourists will have a serious impact on living standards.

Nyusi called for vigilance, and stressed that the animals of the reserve should not be killed for any reason.

Nyusi also denounced the use of illegal fishing gear, particular mosquito nets. When mosquito nets are used for fishing, they no longer serve their primary purpose of protecting people from malaria, and can have a devastating effect on marine ecosystems. The mesh is so fine that the nets catch fish of all sizes, adult and juvenile.

Nyusi warned that fishermen who use mosquito nets are destroying their own future. But if they use recommended fishing techniques, and observe the closed season, as happens in some other parts of the country, they will be able to catch larger fish and their incomes will increase.

Nyusi deplored the disorganised state of Ponta de Ouro town, which shows little signs of town planning, with informal stalls built on every street. “We shouldn’t build stalls everywhere, and in any old way”, said the President.

The current situation was not appropriate for Ponta do Ouro’s image as “a well organised place for high quality leisure”, he added. “I am not saying that the stalls must be destroyed, but they must be built in an orderly fashion”.

“Tourists need security and good sanitation”, Nyusi said. “When it’s well organised, tourism provides jobs for a lot of people. But if there is garbage, crime, a proliferation of stalls, and the disorderly exploitation of marine resources, then tourists will not come to Ponta do Ouro. We must cherish this activity, so that tourists do not head off to other places rather than Ponta do Ouro”.

A local community leader who spoke at the rally complained that the population of Ponta do Ouro have not yet received any of the promised 20 per cent of the revenue from the Marine Reserve.

The Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development, Celso Correia, promised that this money will begin to flow into the Ponta do Ouro community as from June, and added that this distribution of revenue was already happening with the Maputo Special Reserve.

Correia said the tourist operators in the Special Reserve will, over the next eight months, fund the building of a hospital in Ponta do Ouro. This will have 20 beds, a great improvement on the two bed capacity of the present health centre. It will have a range of services available so that patients do not have to travel 80 kilometres to receive medical care.

There were also complaints that elephants and other animals from the reserve invade the fields of local farmers and devour their crops. Correia said his Ministry hopes to demarcate areas where the population can farm without coming into conflict with wild life. One successful technique has been to grow chilli peppers on the borders of the reserve. The chillies act as a natural fence since elephants do not eat them.

Source: AIM