statement by the minister for natural resources and tourism, hon. lazaro s. nyalandu (mp) given...

8/13/2019 Statement by the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Hon. Lazaro S. Nyalandu (MP) given today, 3rd February 2014 during Roundtable discussion at Serena Hotel Dar

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Your Excellencies, Esteemed and Honoured Guests,

Welcome and Good Morning. Karibuni . Warm greetings to the Heads of Missions, representatives from

international organisations and our multilateral partners fromWorld Bank, United Nations and African Development Bank.

I am grateful for this opportunity to share with you the currentpriorities of the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania aswe set out to scale up our efforts to combat poaching and illegalwildlife trade, particularly illicit ivory trafficking.

We invite you today to collaborate with us in discussing thepriorities as we develop a strategy to combat poaching andaddress illegal wildlife trafficking particularly of our threatenedelephant populations.

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Scientific evidence shows thatpoaching and illegal ivory traffickinghas caused a significant decline inelephant populations in Tanzania.

Survival of the species is now atrisk, endangering a priceless asset

to humanity, the integrity of Tanzanias biodiversity and our national economy.

It is clear to us all that more needsto be done and the time to act isnow.

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The Tanzanian Government is, therefore, setting out toaddress three interrelated challenges and opportunities:(1) Biodiversity conservation; (2) Economic development;and (3) National security.

Biodiversity : Tanzania WildlifeResearch Institute (TAWIRI) hasestimated that elephants maybecome extinct within seven

years, if the current trend of decline continues. In addition,since the elephant is a keystonespecies of the African savannahecosystem, effects on thesehabitats and all other savannahspecies are expected to bedevastating as the naturalhabitat management effect of

elephants is no longer present. 4


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Economicdevelopment:

Elephants andrhinos are iconicmammals of Africaand important tourist

attractions. Theirabsence wouldseverely impactTanzanias tourism

sector. Without thesecharismatic mega-fauna the draw fortourists will be

diminished. 5


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Illegal wildlife trade increases poverty sincethe true value of wildlife products is taken

away from local communities and, mostoften, out of the country. In effect, theillegal wildlife trade is privatising for illicit

gain from a public good. Illegal wildlife trade is a redirection of

wildlife-based benefits from thousands of rural households dependent on naturalresources towards a few powerfulcriminals.

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National security : Poaching andillegal wildlife trafficking putnational security at risk.

Unfortunately, the middlemeninvolved in the trafficking of wildlife products are becomingmore skilled at disguising their goods and avoiding arrests atcountries exit and entry points.

There is enormous urgency tocombat the national securityaspect of the ivory trade andslaughter of elephants at bothnational and international levels.

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The Tanzanian Government recognises the need for a mix of short-term actions and long-term solutions to end poaching and illegaltrafficking of wildlife.

A draft strategy has three interrelated components each detailingseveral strategic measures to address these issues. The threepriority components are:

1. Providing national capacity for intelligence-led, highlycoordinated law enforcement. This will include creation of adedicated wildlife crime unit, better controls at ports and supportingthe much needed infrastructure development in protected areas;

2. Improving rural livelihoods through enhanced community-basedmanagement of natural resources, including on-going support to our WMA programme;

3. Awareness raising and demand reduction in Tanzania and incollaboration with supply, transit and destination countries to helpchange attitudes towards wildlife crime and build internationalsupport to combat illegal wildlife trafficking.

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First priority

Boost and align our intelligence capabilities in the wildlife sector andbetter link with our national systems and response mechanisms,

including the National and Transnational Serious Crimes Unit. To that endour strategy includes the creation of a Wildlife Crime Unit housed in myMinistry but effectively linked to all other arms of government.

National Wildlife Crime Unit overseen by a proposed Ministerial Committee on Wildlife Security that will allow a linkage to other related

Ministries, in order to unite the wildlife and security sectors in addressingwildlife trafficking. The Unit will be composed of expert members from theWildlife Division, TANAPA and potentially other partners under thisMinistry.

The Unit will be supported by secondments of technical experts from the

National and Transnational Serious Crimes Unit, including publicprosecutions, police and customs, immigration and intelligence agencies.It will contain a separate intelligence section for the management of human and signals intelligence. Advanced training will need to beprovided to Unit members.

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First priority cont .

This will be an independent specialist unit and, where necessary, will call uponand liaise with the Wildlife Division and TANAPAs and NCAAs anti-poachingunits as well as the CITESs ivory and rhino task force, and upon INTERPOLrepresentatives, amongst others.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand the Ministry of Home Affairs will allow for the unit to access specialist

support from the National and Transnational Serious Crimes Unit and, therefore,benefit from the skills, intelligence and law enforcement expertise of the police,CID, intelligence, customs, immigration departments and military forceswhenever necessary.

The Unit will be based within the Ministry. It will manage seven ecosystem-levelTasking and Coordination Groups in the following ecosystem hotspots:Serengeti, Tarangire, Moyowosi, Ruaha, Rungwa, Katavi and Selous . EachTasking and Coordination Group will be made up of a specialist operational teamand will be designed to grow and contract according to the scale of a particular task, calling on resources from other groups and the wildlife crime unit asrequired. 11


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The SecondPriority:

Strengthenlawenforcement

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Second priority To significantly strengthen technical capacities to

combat poaching on the ground for our rangers, police,customs and immigration officials. Effective lawenforcement will require stronger efforts to tacklepoaching in protected areas as well as unprotected

areas.

The Government will scale up capacities to interceptcriminals in transit, on major highways and at export

points along highways as well as at airports andseaports. These efforts will require manpower, training,technology, better monitoring intelligence, transportand other tools.

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Third priority

Container Control Programme , which will vastly

increase capacity for efficient and thoroughmonitoring of export containers at air/sea ports. Acomprehensive training programme will be conductedfor customs staff, including in aspects of risk analysis,cargo inspection, information exchange and post-seizure investigations. Port control units will beestablished at container terminals, with liaison pointswith the Wildlife Crime Unit and our existing Nationaland Transnational Serious Crimes Unit. Each unit willbe equipped to target high-risk containers, increasingthe efficiency of searches.

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Third priority c o n t .

In addition, customs departments should be equipped with

and trained in the use of high-tech scanning equipment andtrained sniffer dogs and will be given additional staff members in order to further increase the rate of detection of smuggled goods. Selected staff can act as clandestine

monitors, with recording devices, to support intelligencegathering. Training will also be given on the application of roadblocks along major highways and known smugglingroutes.

In addition, an independent communications system needsto be emplaced for coordination between Customs andWildlife Division via the Wildlife Crime Unit in order to enable

targeted interceptions of identified suspects. 16


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Fourth priority

Deterrence through higher convictions successrate in poaching and trafficking crimes

Knowledge of wildlife laws, offences and penalties islow in the justice sector, which weakens cases andreduces the likelihood of suitable penalties. In addition,if a case results in a successful conviction, the lowpenalties given for wildlife crimes does little to deter apoacher or trafficker who may gain an income fromivory trade many times the value of the penalty.

Therefore, intensive training will be provided to stateattorneys and district magistrates, depending on thefindings of a national assessment, on the following:wildlife laws, their relevance to national security andeconomy, and, therefore, significance of wildlife

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Fourth priority cont . Each stage of the prosecution process will be strengthened:

how to prepare for trial, minimum requirements for a file interms of quality of evidence, presentation and handling of evidence exhibits, with standard operating procedureestablished for case management and rapid referral throughdepartments. Judiciary toolkits, checklists and guidelines willbe introduced and implemented for easy referral duringoperations.

Corruption within the judiciary will also be addressed, throughsensitisation of magistrates for honest and fair judgments including passing on the understanding that killing wildlife is aserious crime; employment of independent case monitors and

court observers, case analysis and publication; the utilisationof electronic transcription system in courts so that recordscannot be changed. Available anti-corruption tools will beutilised as necessary.

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Long-term solutions

These include addressing poverty and sustainable livelihoodsat the local level in the vicinity of protected areas. Prosperity,

alternatives to illegal activities and development will be animportant part of the long-term solutions. This will likelyinclude more effective collaboration between Government,local communities, NGOs and the private sector especiallythe tourism sector. On-going support to wildlife management

areas must be a crucial part of those long-terms solution people must benefit from wildlife, if it is to survive.

Improved international cooperation is also crucial. Thisincludes wildlife management and anti-poaching, anti-trafficking cooperation with our neighbours, expandedcooperation with INTERPOL, and deeper diplomaticcooperation with ivory and rhino horn consumer states.Tanzania and China have already begun to demonstrate thisin our bilateral relationships but, there is more to be done yet.

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Long-term solutions c o n t .

We are also aware that much needs to be done in

awareness raising at home and abroad about the threats tothe nation and to our global heritage from poaching andivory trafficking, including better awareness of the natureand costs of ivory sources in consumer countries. Our draft

strategy, therefore, has a strong awareness raising anddemand reduction component.

Details of our planned approaches in both the short- andlong-term are also spelled out in the draft strategy, which weintend to circulate for your input and feedback in the near future.

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H o n o u r e d G u e s t s ,

At this point I am pleased to conclude these few remarkswith a kind and sincere invitation to have your views in

response and to answer any questions, with the assistanceof Ministry experts and the kind facilitation of both UNDPand GIZ advisors.

As this is a round table, you are warmly invited to shareyour views and observations about the challenges we facetogether in poaching, wildlife trafficking and the illegal ivorytrade.

My objective is to ensure that you are aware of our Governments priorities and of the emerging strategy, andthat you have an opportunity now and going forward toprovide your views and to consider ways in which you cansupport and collaborate through strategic partnerships, in

addressing this crisis. 22


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Also, I hope this is the first of many opportunities to continue our dialogue with the international community, not only Heads of Missions from other governments, but friends and supporters in

the NGO community and the private sector. One such opportunity will be the forthcoming London summit on

Illegal Wildlife Trade on the 13 th February, at which many of thenations represented here today will be taking part, and I thank

the United Kingdom in advance for organising that conference,which, I believe, will take us a long way as an internationalcommunity in effectively addressing this crisis.

Other efforts must be taken here in Tanzania as we continue todevelop our strategy, build up the momentum of our commonresponse and gather with us pledges and partnerships tocollectively resolve this issue. I look forward to working together.

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Thank You AllAhsanteni

statement by the minister for natural resources and tourism, hon. lazaro s. nyalandu (mp) given...

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