Environmental Protection

Anti-Poaching in Zimbabwe

Biodiversity Protection in Tanzania (will launch soon)    

Anti-Poaching in Zimbabwe

Why Anti-poaching

During the first decade of the twenty-first century, the African elephant population has declined by 64 per cent, mainly due to illegal poaching for ivory trading (Maisels et al., 2013). It has been estimated that if the pace of poaching continues, African elephants will face a great possibility of distinction in the next 50 years (IUCN, 2021).

(Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe)

      At the same time, with an increased luxury consumption ability, China has been listed as the biggest marketplace for illegal ivory (Stricherz, 2008). This label of being “poaching accomplices” has always been stuck on China’s international image, even though the Chinese government has made its monumental step of banning elephant ivory trades since 2017. In order to change such a falsified stereotype on Chinese and further protect African elephants, the Peaceland Foundation launched its voluntary anti-poaching program in 2015.      

Local Collaborations

    An important partner who offered generous help to the Peaceland Foundation was the overseas Chinese community – including immigrants, leaders of companies, volunteers, and international friends. With their help, Sino-Zim Wildlife Conservation Foundation (中津野生动植物基金) was officially established to hold fundraising events for Zimbabwe wild animal welfare (Zhongjin, 2019). It also helped the Peaceland Foundation organizing our first anti-poaching team, representing the actual start of our local wild welfare conservation activities in the Mana Pools National Park of Zimbabwe.    

(Sino-Zim Wildlife Foundation launched, photo from news report https://kknews.cc/world/4no5vlv.html)

Our Work

  Stage 1 Duration: Feb. 2015—May 2015 Number of volunteers on site: 5 Progress: Done the preliminary investigation on site and learned how to work on wild welfare protection Decided to change our focus from personnel supports to technical supports according to the local needs
    

(Volunteer camp in Mana Pools, shoot in later stage)

      Stage 2 Duration: Oct. 2015—Jan. 2016 Number of volunteers on site: 4 Progress: Brought powered delta planes and power boats designed for shallow water; Introduced the equipment to officials and devoted them into the patrolling for a larger coverage of the area and quicker responses.
    

(Using powered delta planes and power boats in patrolling)

Stage 3 Duration: Jul. 2016—Sep. 2016 Number of volunteers on site: 3 Progress: Trained the local park officials on using gliders, powered delta plane and continually anticipated in patrolling. Donating night vision and thermal imaging cameras, laptops, solar panels, and other essentials (a total worth of US$120,000) to Mana Pools National Park       

Stage 4 Duration: May 2017—Jul. 2017 Number of volunteers on site: 6 Progress: Applied helicopters and stared trials of advanced long-endurance drones to combat poaching (Applied helicopters)     

Stage 5 Duration: Nov. 2017—May 2018 Number of volunteers on site: 6 Progress: Implemented the anti-poaching activities for six months       It showed that the equipment we brought there had improved the patrol efficiency greatly. By the end of 2019, poaching in the Mana Pools National Park has almost disappeared, which represents a great success achieved by the cooperation between Park officials and our anti-poaching team.     Anti-Poaching: Still A Long Way to Go tells more stories about our operations. Currently our anti-poaching program is halted due to the epidemic and its influence on international flights, yet our faith to fulfil human being’s responsibility on wildlife conservation is never shaken.         References IUCN. (2021). African elephant species now endangered and critically endangered - IUCN red list. International Union for Conservation of Nature. https://www.iucn.org/news/species/202103/african-elephant-species-now-endangered-and-critically-endangered-iucn-red-list Maisels F, Strindberg S, Blake S, Wittemyer G, Hart J, Williamson EA, et al. (2013). Devastating decline of forest elephants in central Africa. PLOS ONE 8(3): e59469. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0059469 Stricherz, V. (2008). Ivory poaching at critical levels: Elephants on path to extinction by 2020? UW News. https://www.washington.edu/news/2008/08/07/ivory-poaching-at-critical-levels-elephants-on-path-to-extinction-by-2020-2/ Zhongjin Wildlife Conservation Foundation held a fundraising event for Zimbabwe wild animal welfare [translated]. (2019). Voice of Zimbabew. https://kknews.cc/zh-cn/world/63lx42q.html     

Author: Zhong Sijia Editor: Li Ling, Li Tiange