Zimpapers Logo

Conrad Mwanawashe Harare Bureau
INTERNET service provider Zol, has partnered the AWARE Trust to raise money to further the conservation and welfare of wildlife and wildlife habitats in Zimbabwe. The AWARE Trust is the only veterinary conservation trust in the country, run by veterinarians, focusing on the welfare of wildlife and conservation of wildlife habitats.

The partnership was created to enhance efforts to curb the trafficking of exotic animals.

Speaking at a fundraising event for the trust, Zol Zimbabwe chief executive officer Denny Marandure said some endangered species are now literally worth more than their weight in gold, which makes it even harder for governments and international bodies to counter this trade.
“For example, according to some reports, in China and South East Asia the wholesale street price of ivory has increased from $5 to $2,100 per kilogram in 25 years. And this is reflected in the exponential increase in poaching,” said  Marandure.

“Despite it being the world’s largest market for illegally trafficked goods, China, working with NGOs like AWARE Trust is taking steps to combat poaching,” Marandure said.

He said within the last decade, the illegal wildlife trade has mutated from low-level, opportunistic crime to large-scale activity by international criminal networks.

“The trade is only exceeded in value by the illegal market for drugs, arms and trafficked human beings, and generates as much as $20 billion a year in illegal profits — profits which are used to fund organised criminal networks and non-state armed groups,” said  Marandure.

Wildlife conservation is a global challenge.

About two weeks ago United States of America President Barack Obama met with Prince William to discuss issues relating to the illegal wildlife trade of these exotic animals.

Prince William described the illegal wildlife trade as one of the most insidious forms of corruption and criminality in the world today, as he called for international cooperation on efforts to curb the trafficking of exotic animals.

Marandure said criminal gangs turn vast profits from the illegal killing or capture of wildlife; armed groups and terrorists swap poached ivory for guns and middlemen oil the wheels of the trade in return for a reward.  “Together they loot our planet, to feed mankind’s ignorant craving for exotic pets, trinkets, cures and ornaments derived from the world’s vanishing and irreplaceable species,” said  Marandure.

ZoL Zimbabwe and AWARE launched a calendar that gives the trust a platform to bring into “Zimbabwean homes the beauty and diversity of Zimbabwe’s wildlife”.  AWARE director Dr Keith Dutlow said the trust is involved in training government veterinary doctors in areas that are not covered in university. AWARE’s mission is to raise awareness of veterinary and ecological threats to wildlife species and habitats in the country.