A Strategic Anti-Poaching Operations Centre located in the Chewore Safari Area in Zimbabwe was handed over by Japanese Ambassador, Toshiyuki Iwado, to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority today. The centre serves as a post for field rangers conducting operations, and has significantly strengthened the Wildlife Management Authority’s capacity to address current and emerging threats impacting this important MIKE site.

Thanks to funding from the Government of Japan, and on-going support from the European Union, area management’s ability to address the illegal killing of elephants. The Chewore Safari Area, a World Heritage Site, provides shelter for immense congregations of Africa’s large mammal populations, which concentrate on its flood plains. However, this site faces a real threat from poaching and, in recent years, elephants have come under increasing pressure.

The capability of the Zimbabwe authorities in keeping surveillance over, and preventing elephant poaching in the area has been enhanced through the establishment of the Centre, allowing for better and more secure planning and management of patrol activities by the rangers.

The Government of Japan made a voluntary contribution of USD 60,000 to establish the Anti-Poaching Operations Centre in the Chewore Safari Area of the Lower Zambezi Valley, which been operational since October 2017. “Today we are witnessing an initiative that demonstrates the importance of collaborative work. This facility we are celebrating today plays an important role in easing patrol operations in the sub-region”, said Arthur Musakwa, Director Conservation of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

The Tashinga Initiative Trust, in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, led the construction of the Anti-Poaching Operations Centre funded by the Government of Japan, and has been leading the implementation of the EU funded MIKES Project activities in the area since 2015.