It’s scary when the reality is that three rhinos are poached on a daily basis in South Africa, and there seems to be no end in sight. Another scary stat is that sometime between 2016-2018, it’s expected that there will be more rhino deaths than births annually. This points to one outcome, my children’s children are more than likely going to know a rhino, as I know a quagga, through pictures and museums. There are organisations and remarkable people fighting the scourge and Heather Dugmore looks at one of the projects on the battle lines, looking at reducing poaching by 30 percent within 18 months. – Stuart Lowman
by Heather Dugmore
Current efforts to combat rhino poaching in South Africa are making some headway but they are insufficient because they mostly focus on anti-poaching efforts on the ground.
Recognising the need to go beyond this, the WWF Nedbank Green Trust is funding a project that is working on a strategic approach aimed at disrupting and collapsing the transnational criminal syndicates that control this illegal market.
The project is called: âIdentifying and disrupting the criminal networks behind rhino horn traffickingâ.
The Transnational Crime and Corruption Centre (TraCCC) at George Mason University in the United States is undertaking the project. It is supporting South Africa in its efforts to understand illegal wildlife trade and transnational crime, and training local authorities in the TraCCC approach. TraCC aims to support South Africa in achieving a 30% reduction in poaching within 18 months.
At the same time, the WWF Nedbank Green Trust recognises the fundamental need to engage communities in wildlife conservation, hence it is also funding a project that is working with three communities adjacent to wildlife reserves with rhino in Kwa-Zulu Natal, Limpopo and on the Mozambique border with Kruger National Park.
This project is called âLearning by Doing: Catalysing Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) as an approach to benefit wildlife conservation in South Africaâ.
âIt is about benefitting communities through wildlife, by developing sustainable livelihoods from the natural resources in wildlife reserves,â explains WWF SA Rhino Programme Manager Dr Jo Shaw, who has a PhD on Black Rhino ecology, and who is managing both projects.
This approach forms a strong basis for the future of our protected areas as it encourages a culture of community investment in wildlife and natural  resources. At the same time it has the potential to expand the poaching information network, as communities keep their ear to the ground.
âBoth projects include elements of information gathering and analysis from very different ends of the scale,â says Dr Shaw.
Due to the sensitivity of the research on criminal syndicates, much of it cannot be discussed, but it includes mapping and tracking the smuggling networks and transnational supply chains that are moving rhino horn, and pinpointing outlets where illicit wildlife products are traded.
Prior to taking up her post with WWF-SAâs Rhino Programme in 2012, Dr Shaw worked with the international wildlife trade-monitoring network, TRAFFIC, researching the illicit rhino horn trade between South Africa and Vietnam.
In August 2012 she and TRAFFICâs Elephant & Rhino Programme Co-ordinator, Tom Milliken, published a report titled: âThe South Africa Vietnam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus â a deadly combination of institutional lapses, corrupt wildlife industry professionals and Asian crime syndicatesâ.
It included research about the sophisticated supply chain of the transnational crime syndicates, which not only focus on rhino horn and elephant ivory, they also move any big ticket items, with links to drug trafficking, human trafficking and weapons trafficking.
Dr Shaw explains that one of the big drivers behind the rise in poaching is the growth in wealth of urban populations in Vietnam and China, where rhino horn is a symbol of wealth and status.
Baby rhino calf with mom pic.twitter.com/IBYy0gSnis
â Life on Earth (@planetepics) August 18, 2015
Rhino horn is ground down in ceramic bowls especially produced for this, and added to liquid, including water, so that it can be drunk. It also still taken this way medicinally as it is believed to remove toxins from the body, cure headaches and reduce fevers. Shaw and Millikenâs report included a number of recommendations for South Africa and Vietnam around the need to galvanise strong political cooperation with regard to rhino crimes and the combatting of them. It also recommended specific resources that South Africa requires to support its conservation and law enforcement agencies. âIn the last three years we have seen good commitment from the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA),â says Dr Shaw.
Adorable little rhino galloping down the road. pic.twitter.com/8hXc4mJzSl
â Fascinating Videos (@FascinatingVids) August 18, 2015
âRhinos are a front page issue for the DEA and they are putting a lot of resources behind the challenge, which they recognise is far more than an environmental issue, itâs an international crime issue.â
Dr Shaw is a key driver in the five-point strategy that WWF is using to support the protection and conservation of rhino, which includes:
- Continuing the Black Rhino Range Expansion Programme (BRREP) to continue to boost black rhino population growth rates by relocating founder populations to additional areas that are committed to protecting them;
- Working with people and communities who border wildlife and protected areas to create linkages and benefits;
- Supporting law enforcement activities with forensic, judicial and information management tools;
- Recognising that illegal wildlife trade is an international problem that cannot be solved within our borders; it requires profound cooperation between ourselves and other key countries in the illicit supply chain, notably Mozambique and Vietnam;
- Working on understanding the international rhino horn market, such who are the consumers in key rhino horn markets, such as Vietnam; and then using this information to develop targeted behaviour changing campaigns.
