CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE- PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA AT HANDING OVER CEREMONY OF 11 VEHICLES DONATED BY FRANKFURT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY,
11th MARCH, 2014
Honourable Lazaro Nyalandu (MP), Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism;
Deputy Ambassador of European Union;
Charge d; Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany to Tanzania;
Deputy
Permanent Secretary;
Mr. Christ of Schenk, Director for Frankfurt Zoological Society;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps and International Community;
Director of TANAPA;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I welcome you all at the State House for this historic handover ceremony. I can’t find words good enough to thank the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) for donating 11 vehicles in support of our ongoing anti-poaching efforts. These vehicles donated today will be used for anti poaching activities in the Selous Game Reserve, Serengeti National Park and Maswa Game Reserve.
Your passion and commitment for wildlife conservation is well known and highly appreciated in Tanzania. This is not the first time we receive support from your Organization and, I believe it is not the last time. You have been with us all along in conservation of our wildlife for almost half a century now. I want you to know that we value your support and appreciate these generous contributions.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Poaching for meat and trophies is long standing problem in the country. But, of late poaching elephants for their ivory has reached dangerous proportions. As you are all aware, the number of elephants in Selous and Ruaha has significantly dropped from 74,416 in year 2009 to 33,084 in 2013 as a result of poaching activities. By all account, this is alarming. We have responded by scaling up our anti-poaching campaign, and the results have been so far promising. Through Operesheni Kipepeo and Operesheni Tokomeza and other interventions we have uncovered criminal networks, arrested 2,085 poachers and their accomplices in the illegal ivory trade network. We have confiscated 1,721 weapons and several catches of ammunition used by poachers. It has been a hard-won success. We need to sustain the gain because the problem remains unsolved.
As a result, in the Northern zone, we have managed to significantly reduce the number of elephant killed from six per month 2011, to zero by August 2013. Unfortunately, immediately just after the suspension of ‘Operesheni Tokomeza’ three elephant were killed in December, 2013. The statistics tell a story that, although we have won important battles in the anti-poaching campaign, we have not won the war against poaching itself. We are determined to stay the course until this war is won. Losing is not an option.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
The threat posed by poaching and illegal ivory trade to the world heritage and our economy is real. Tourism is an important sector which contributes 17 percent of the Tanzania’s GDP and employs over 300,000 people. Game Safari is an anchor of Tanzania tourism. Therefore, we take the threat of poaching very seriously. It is not lack of political will but capacity challenges that we face. We are currently faced with insufficient workforce, financial resources and anti-poaching equipment. Whatever way our friends and partners can assist us in this regard will be highly appreciated. We thank Frankfurt Zoological Society for being a leader in this regard.
The size of territory set aside for wildlife conservation is 36 percent of Tanzania territory. The total area under conservation is 159,878.02 square kilometres on which Game Reserve covers 101,313 square kilometres and Game Controlled Area covers 58,565.02 square kilometres (above the size of Bangladesh which is 143,998 square kilometres). This challenge posed by sheer size is compounded by the insufficient game and warden staff currently at 1,155 personnel, which is only 24 percent of the actual needs. The low number of staff dictates that, one person patrols about 169 square kilometres compared to the required international standard of 25 square kilometres per person. Currently, we are in the process of employing 949 wildlife management officers and we will continue to do so every year until the gap is closed in the next three to four years.
The donation we have received today is indeed timely. It has come at a time of serious need. Certainly, the challenge before us is daunting, but we have no other choice. We need to build the capacity of our wildlife division to be able to fight this war and win.
As we all know too well that, the increasing number of wildlife personnel alone will only not pay off if they do not have better equipment to enable them to respond effectively to the threat. It translates into increasing more vehicles, surveillance equipment and communication equipments among many. It requires a lot of financial investment to be able to meet capacity needs, faced with many competing needs it will take our government a long time to meet those needs. It is for this reason that we welcome the support extended by the Frankfurt Zoological Society and the Germany people. This support will go a long way towards enhancing our capacity to address poaching.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
This anti-poaching campaign cannot be won by Tanzania and affected countries alone. This is a global problem that requires a global response. It requires joint efforts from within and outside the elephant range in the country, and within and across regions.
We thank you in particular for responding to the call and we urge others to join the course. We invite other domestic and international partners to work with us to effectively address the problem of poaching and illegal wildlife trade. We must destroy the criminal networks and hold them to account. Tanzania’s wildlife is a world heritage. We are mere custodians on behalf of humanity. Therefore, protecting this heritage must be a shared responsibility. We all have a role to play. We in Tanzania are fervently determined to play our part.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Once again I thank the Frankfurt Zoological Society for this gesture of friendship gesture. I would also like to thank Mr. Christ of Schenk, for his invaluable efforts in initiating and facilitating the process of acquisition of these vehicles. This support is a testimony for our longstanding partnership and commitment to sustainable conservation. The anti poaching crusade needs to be sustained until the lasting victory attained.
I thank you all for your attention.
-- SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE- PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA AT HANDING OVER CEREMONY OF 11 VEHICLES DONATED BY FRANKFURT ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY,
11th MARCH, 2014
Honourable Lazaro Nyalandu (MP), Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism;
Deputy Ambassador of European Union;
Charge d; Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany to Tanzania;
Deputy
Permanent Secretary;
Mr. Christ of Schenk, Director for Frankfurt Zoological Society;
Members of the Diplomatic Corps and International Community;
Director of TANAPA;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen;
I welcome you all at the State House for this historic handover ceremony. I can’t find words good enough to thank the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) for donating 11 vehicles in support of our ongoing anti-poaching efforts. These vehicles donated today will be used for anti poaching activities in the Selous Game Reserve, Serengeti National Park and Maswa Game Reserve.
Your passion and commitment for wildlife conservation is well known and highly appreciated in Tanzania. This is not the first time we receive support from your Organization and, I believe it is not the last time. You have been with us all along in conservation of our wildlife for almost half a century now. I want you to know that we value your support and appreciate these generous contributions.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Poaching for meat and trophies is long standing problem in the country. But, of late poaching elephants for their ivory has reached dangerous proportions. As you are all aware, the number of elephants in Selous and Ruaha has significantly dropped from 74,416 in year 2009 to 33,084 in 2013 as a result of poaching activities. By all account, this is alarming. We have responded by scaling up our anti-poaching campaign, and the results have been so far promising. Through Operesheni Kipepeo and Operesheni Tokomeza and other interventions we have uncovered criminal networks, arrested 2,085 poachers and their accomplices in the illegal ivory trade network. We have confiscated 1,721 weapons and several catches of ammunition used by poachers. It has been a hard-won success. We need to sustain the gain because the problem remains unsolved.
As a result, in the Northern zone, we have managed to significantly reduce the number of elephant killed from six per month 2011, to zero by August 2013. Unfortunately, immediately just after the suspension of ‘Operesheni Tokomeza’ three elephant were killed in December, 2013. The statistics tell a story that, although we have won important battles in the anti-poaching campaign, we have not won the war against poaching itself. We are determined to stay the course until this war is won. Losing is not an option.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
The threat posed by poaching and illegal ivory trade to the world heritage and our economy is real. Tourism is an important sector which contributes 17 percent of the Tanzania’s GDP and employs over 300,000 people. Game Safari is an anchor of Tanzania tourism. Therefore, we take the threat of poaching very seriously. It is not lack of political will but capacity challenges that we face. We are currently faced with insufficient workforce, financial resources and anti-poaching equipment. Whatever way our friends and partners can assist us in this regard will be highly appreciated. We thank Frankfurt Zoological Society for being a leader in this regard.
The size of territory set aside for wildlife conservation is 36 percent of Tanzania territory. The total area under conservation is 159,878.02 square kilometres on which Game Reserve covers 101,313 square kilometres and Game Controlled Area covers 58,565.02 square kilometres (above the size of Bangladesh which is 143,998 square kilometres). This challenge posed by sheer size is compounded by the insufficient game and warden staff currently at 1,155 personnel, which is only 24 percent of the actual needs. The low number of staff dictates that, one person patrols about 169 square kilometres compared to the required international standard of 25 square kilometres per person. Currently, we are in the process of employing 949 wildlife management officers and we will continue to do so every year until the gap is closed in the next three to four years.
The donation we have received today is indeed timely. It has come at a time of serious need. Certainly, the challenge before us is daunting, but we have no other choice. We need to build the capacity of our wildlife division to be able to fight this war and win.
As we all know too well that, the increasing number of wildlife personnel alone will only not pay off if they do not have better equipment to enable them to respond effectively to the threat. It translates into increasing more vehicles, surveillance equipment and communication equipments among many. It requires a lot of financial investment to be able to meet capacity needs, faced with many competing needs it will take our government a long time to meet those needs. It is for this reason that we welcome the support extended by the Frankfurt Zoological Society and the Germany people. This support will go a long way towards enhancing our capacity to address poaching.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
This anti-poaching campaign cannot be won by Tanzania and affected countries alone. This is a global problem that requires a global response. It requires joint efforts from within and outside the elephant range in the country, and within and across regions.
We thank you in particular for responding to the call and we urge others to join the course. We invite other domestic and international partners to work with us to effectively address the problem of poaching and illegal wildlife trade. We must destroy the criminal networks and hold them to account. Tanzania’s wildlife is a world heritage. We are mere custodians on behalf of humanity. Therefore, protecting this heritage must be a shared responsibility. We all have a role to play. We in Tanzania are fervently determined to play our part.
Ladies and Gentlemen;
Once again I thank the Frankfurt Zoological Society for this gesture of friendship gesture. I would also like to thank Mr. Christ of Schenk, for his invaluable efforts in initiating and facilitating the process of acquisition of these vehicles. This support is a testimony for our longstanding partnership and commitment to sustainable conservation. The anti poaching crusade needs to be sustained until the lasting victory attained.
I thank you all for your attention.
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