Mozambique and partners to invest US$100 million in conservation areas

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Mozambique and partners to invest US$100 million in conservation areas

2:33 CAT | 03 May 2018

Photo: O País

Mozambique will invest some US$100 million in conservation areas by 2023, Minister of Land, Environment and Rural Development Celso Correia announced yesterday.

“The government of Mozambique, in close coordination with its strategic partners, foresees the investment of more than US$100 million in community projects over the next five years,” he said.

The money will be directed towards “conservation agriculture and construction of economic and social infrastructure in districts that contain the national parks and reserves which cover 25 percent of Mozambique’s land area,” he added.

Minister Correia was speaking at an international meeting to evaluate ivory trafficking action plans being held in Maputo until Friday. The funding was singled out as one of the elements of a strategy to curb the organised crime that threatens the survival of elephants and other species in Mozambique.

“We are fully aware that we will not win this fight solely with our approach to community development,” he added, noting that the country has taken important steps on the ground.

Celso Correia pointed out as a sign of institutions’ commitment to fighting the illegal trade in ivory the seizure by authorities in April of three tonnes of ivory in a container ready to be exported from the port of Maputo to Cambodia.

The three-day meeting, which ends on Friday in the Mozambican capital, brings together representatives of justice administration institutions and defence and security forces, as well as financial entities.

It is a regular event, supported by the UK government and organised by the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the International Consortium for Combating Crime against Wildlife (ICCWC).

Source: Lusa