Counter Poaching Efforts

[Flutterby]

I agree...there should be one main fund raiser that everyone recognises and knows is valid.

[Flutterby]

SA, Vietnam set to sign rhino deal

News24
2012-08-21 07:50

Johannesburg -South Africa and Vietnam are set to sign a landmark deal to help stem rhino poaching and the illicit trade in rhino horns, activists and a government official said on Monday.

Illegal hunting of the rhino has spiked in recent years as demand surged in east Asia, especially Vietnam, where the horn is believed to have a miracle medicinal value.

Global wildlife activists have been pushing Vietnam to admit the problem of illegal rhino trade in the country and to tackle the crisis.

International wildlife monitoring network TRAFFIC said a memorandum of understanding between South Africa - home of the largest rhino population in the world - and Vietnam, the biggest consumer market, will soon be penned.

"I think the heat is clearly on Vietnam. I think we are going to see some changes. The good news today is that the MOU with South Africa is about to be signed," TRAFFIC's head of rhino and elephants project, Tom Milliken told reporters.

Lobbying

Mavuso Msimang, a rhino issues manager with South Africa's department of environmental affairs also spoke of the collaboration between his country and Vietnam on "significant issues of bio-diversity management" in a bid to curb the export of rhino horns to Vietnam.

The deal is a partly a result of heavy lobbying by the activists.

The network did not give details of the MOU, but it is believed to centre on law enforcement.

Vietnam's deputy foreign affairs minister Le Loung Minh was last week in South Africa where he held talks over illegal wildlife hunting, trade and trafficking with his counterpart Ebrahim Ebrahim.

Almost 300 rhino have been poached across South Africa since the start of the year, after 448 were killed last year. Their horns are suspected to have been smuggled out to Vietnam.

South Africa is home to about three quarters of Africa's 20 000 or so white rhino and 4 800 critically endangered black rhino.

"The bottom line is that we are not close to ending this crisis yet, we are probably going to get record numbers this year," said Milliken at the launch of TRAFFIC's latest report.

[Flutterby]

From InventedRSA's FB page

We had discussions with our government and the Rhino Action Group and both parties are reluctant to try our idea. However, by posting the photos on our FB page we might get some support from the international community. The specific procedure for fitting the Rhino Horn will still be kept secret until we get a possible party who shows interest.
This is a fake horn which will replace the horns of Rhinos in private parks and possibly the government parks as well. When the government legalize rhino horn trading “which is just a question of time” the owners will cut the horns off for trading but the rhino won’t have a horn to work with or defend itself. Our patent allows for it to be fitted with special reflectors thus enabling the rhino to still perform its work and defend itself. The poacher will spot the special reflectors through his telescope hence he will notice that it is a fake horn. From our perspective the rhino owners should be allowed to implement this replacement with immediate affect thus stopping the poachers. The horns which they cut off can then be stored at the South African reserve bank with micro chips like identipet should the government legalize trading.

[Sprocky]

What has this chap been smoking????

[Richprins]

SanParks press release:

Date: 23rd August 2012

As part of government’s ongoing initiatives in the fight against rhino poaching, a National Enforcement Blitz was conducted by the Green Scorpions. The Blitz, titled Operation Skhumba, was conducted jointly by officials from the national Department of Environmental Affairs as well as provincial Environment Departments.

It occurred during the week of 14 August and focused on the Tannery and Taxidermy industries in the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West and Western Cape provinces. Approximately 28 facilities were inspected during the Operation.

The blitz was executed by the Green Scorpions amidst an increase in the number of rhinos poached in South Africa, with the figure since the beginning of this year now standing at 339 and a total of 192 individuals arrested in connection with rhino poaching.

The Kruger National Park has lost a total of 201 rhinos to illegal killings in 2012.

The Green Scorpions conducted inspections looking at compliance with the legal requirements related to waste, pollution and biodiversity issues. Under biodiversity issues, the two main aims were to check compliance with regard to the Threatened Or Protected Species Regulations (TOPS) as well as compliance with the amended Norms and Standards on the marking of rhinoceros and rhinoceros horn and for the hunting of rhinoceros for trophy hunting purposes under the National Environmental Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004, as published in Government Notice no. 304 on the 10th of April 2012. This is in line with the Department’s plan to ensure ongoing industry compliance in an effort to curb the number of environmental crimes, including rhino poaching.

The amended norms and standards are intended to strengthen the regulatory framework in terms of monitoring the legality of hunts and control over rhino horns. Stricter provisions relating to hunting were required to ensure that processes are standardized and to reduce possible abuse of the system. According to the amended norms and standards, rhino horns from trophy hunts are expected to be transported by a duly authorised person from the address where a hunt took place directly to a taxidermist for processing and exportation. The transportation of horns may only be authorised in terms of an individual permit granted by the issuing authority (it may not be authorised in terms of a standing permit or in combination with the hunting permit). The permit authorising the hunt and a copy of the professional hunting register must accompany all rhino products when being transported between destinations. Also, by law, when taxidermies receive rhino horns, these needs to be reported to the respective provincial conservation authorities. Taxidermies are in addition, required to keep a register detailing the date of receipt of the rhino horns, their weight, micro-chip numbers as well as the numbers of the hunting permit, transport permit and professional hunting register. This register must be made available to the issuing authority for inspection upon request. Ensuring that these amended norms and standards are being adhered to, was also one of the focuses of the Operation.

Alongside taxidermies, Operation Skhumba also focused on some of the country’s tanneries. During 2011, criminal investigations were initiated against tanneries in the Eastern Cape for non-compliance with environmental legislation. So, through Operation Skhumba, the Green Scorpions aimed to also inspect tanneries in other regions in order to ensure that such transgressions do not continue unabated.

While it was found during the Operation that some of the inspected facilities were adhering to the relevant environmental legislation, most were not in compliance. The most frequent transgressions uncovered related to poor waste management processes. A smaller number of the inspected facilities were also found not be in possession of the required licences, including air and waste licences. From a biodiversity perspective, the most frequent issues of non-compliance related to the absence of hunting registers and the absence of TOPS permits.

Investigations into the cases of non-compliance found by the Green Scorpions are currently underway. The findings on these will be released once all due processes are complete.

Members of the public are also urged to report any non-compliances that they are aware of to our Environmental crimes hotline on 0800 205 005.

[Richprins]

While it was found during the Operation that some of the inspected facilities were adhering to the relevant environmental legislation, most were not in compliance. The most frequent transgressions uncovered related to poor waste management processes.

What a brilliantly successful operation!

[iNdlovu]

Lip service - lip service and our rhino continue to be slaughtered.

[iNdlovu]

[H. erectus]

I seriously would hate to be that person putting all
this crap to paper!!! We now fall back on a
"green Scorpion" to simply do what a license officer
is supposed to do!!


Shifting parameters again??? Blaming others instead
of oneself for mismanagement..

[H. erectus]

There's a foot out there, let's shoot it to smithereens!!!
Gablaaamm

Hope it was my foot Sanparks, not yours!!!