Mozambique and cooperation partners to sign anti-poaching agreement

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Mozambique and cooperation partners to sign anti-poaching agreement

2:29 CAT | 29 Feb 2016

Folha de Maputo (File photo)

The Mozambican government and cooperation partners in the field of wildlife conservation plan to sign an agreement to continue discouraging poaching in the country.

If the project moves forward, the agreement will be signed by the National Administration of Conservation Areas for the government, the World Wilde Fund for Nature and the Joaquim Chissano Foundation on March 3, which marks World Wildlife day.

Many activities are planned to mark the day, with the organizations involved intending to highlight the protection of lions, pangolins, turtles, dugongs, whales, sharks and rays from the pressures to which they are exposed and which threaten their survival.

A National Administration of Conservation Areas press release reflects the seriousness of poaching in Mozambique, with the elephant population in the country, for example, falling from about 20,000 to just 10,438 in the last five years, mainly as a result of criminal ivory trafficking.

“Mozambique has not been only identified as a poaching epicenter, but also as an important transit point for ivory and rhino horns destined for Asian consumer markets,” the note reads.

The document adds that, at the last Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species conference in 2013, Mozambique was placed on the list of countries with the poorest involvement in combating elephant and rhino poaching.

Source: Folha de Maputo