Zimbabwe / World Wildlife Day

March 3 marks World Wildlife Day - a United Nations International day to celebrate all the world's wild animals and plants and the contribution that they make to our lives and the health of the planet.

In Zimbabwe, wildlife populations have been declining during the last 30 years due to consecutive droughts, habitat loss, poaching and sale of wildlife products. In addition, human–wildlife conflict, such as crop-raiding by elephants and livestock lost to carnivorous predators, presents multiple challenges for rural communities.

To address these challenges, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with partners to implement the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme.

March 3 marks World Wildlife Day - a United Nations International day to celebrate all the world's wild animals and plants and the contribution that they make to our lives and the health of the planet.

In Zimbabwe, wildlife populations have been declining during the last 30 years due to consecutive droughts, habitat loss, poaching and sale of wildlife products. In addition, human–wildlife conflict, such as crop-raiding by elephants and livestock lost to carnivorous predators, presents multiple challenges for rural communities.

To address these challenges, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with partners to implement the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme.

In Zimbabwe and three other Southern African countries (Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia) the SWM Programme is working within the Kavango–Zambezi (KaZa) Transfrontier Conservation Area, one of the largest conservation areas in the world.

22-year-old Chipo Munsaka is one of the 18 Resource Monitors trained by the SWM Programme to conserve wild animals and protect ecosystems. 

Chipo applied to become a Resource Monitor because of her love for wildlife and nature. She is a strong believer that communities and wildlife can coexist in a sustainable way.

SOUNDBITE (English) Chipo Munsaka, Resource Monitor, wildlife patrol team, Mucheni, Zimbabwe: “I want to conserve our natural resources from exploitation and to reduce human and wildlife conflict. How? By educating the community, how to live with their animals, how to live with their trees.”

Chipo’s dream is to further her studies at the Zimbabwe Institute of Wildlife Conservation and obtain a diploma in Wildlife Management.

The SWM Programme encourages equal participation of both women and men in decision-making and the management of Community Conservancies.  Women and girls’ contributions to wildlife management and food security is often restricted yet they have a crucial role to play.

SOUNDBITE (English) Chipo Munsaka, Resource Monitor, wildlife patrol team, Mucheni, Zimbabwe: “This job was regarded as for male, but as I am a girl I decided to better engage into this job because nowadays jobs… Girls must engage into these programmes in the conservation of wildlife.”

The SWM Programme aims to empower local communities to sustainably manage and benefit from wildlife. Chipo is helping restock the area with wildlife and reducing the threats from human-wildlife conflict and poaching.

SOUNDBITE (English) Chipo Munsaka, Resource Monitor, wildlife patrol team, Mucheni, Zimbabwe: “no poaching, no illegal activities, let's go together, no one left behind in the conservation of our wildlife for our benefit.”

The SWM Programme supports Community Conservancies to improve community livelihoods and the sustainable management of wildlife.

Much of the wildlife lives outside protected areas and they are continuously interacting with rural communities, which can lead to human-wildlife conflict. To encourage co-existence, it is important that communities derive benefits from their natural resources.

In tropical and subtropical regions, where overhunting for wild meat is threatening hundreds of wildlife species with extinction, community-led management is also key. As wildlife populations decline, many rural communities are being left without food and an income. This situation is becoming more critical as the demand for wild meat grows, particularly in urban areas where it is consumed as a luxury or tradition. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Hubert Boulet, Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme Coordinator FAO: “With our partners, as well as communities and national governments, we are developing practical and innovative solutions in fifteen countries. The aim is to improve wildlife conservation and food security.”

The SWM Programme is working with communities and partners to improve wildlife hunting regulations, increase the supply of sustainably produced meat products and farmed fish, empower and strengthen community management, and reduce demand for wild meat in towns and cities. 

SOUNDBITE (English) Hubert Boulet, Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme Coordinator FAO: “FAO is working through the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme, with inspiring community members to reduce this conflict. One approach is through Community Conservancies, which give communities ownership and incentives to conserve wildlife.”

Boulet emphasizes that empowering women from Indigenous Peoples and rural communities is essential for protecting wildlife and ensuring food security.

SOUNDBITE (English) Hubert Boulet, Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme Coordinator FAO: “Women and girls are at the heart of rural communities worldwide. They contribute to sustainable natural resource management and food security in many ways. In fact, women play a critical role in wildlife management. They can influence how their communities hunt and fish, protect areas, and comply with conservation laws.”

World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to raise awareness about the loss of wildlife and find solutions. This year's theme is ‘Partnerships for Wildlife Conservation'. 

The SWM Programme is being implemented by a consortium of partners. The consortium includes the: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

The SWM Programme is an initiative of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) which is being funded by the European Union with co-funding from the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM) and the French Development Agency (AFD).

STORY: Zimbabwe / World Wildlife Day

TRT: 3’:50’’

SOURCE: FAO

RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

DATELINE: May 2022, Mucheni Community Conservancy, Rosslyn Safari, Zimbabwe / 16 February 2023, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy

SHOTLIST:

May 2022, Mucheni Community Conservancy, Zimbabwe

1. Wide Shot, Sunrise in the savannah

2. Wide Shot, Giraffes

3. Wide Shot, lions

4. Medium Shot, Chipo Munsaka leaving her house in the morning 

5. Wide Shot, Chipo Munsaka leaving her house in the morning

6. Wide Shot, Chipo Munsaka with her family

7. Medium Shot, Chipo Munsaka (camera left) with her mother and brother

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Chipo Munsaka, Resource Monitor, wildlife patrol team, Mucheni, Zimbabwe: “I want to conserve our natural resources from exploitation and to reduce human and wildlife conflict. How? By educating the community, how to live with their animals, how to live with their trees.”

May 2022, Rosslyn Safari, Zimbabwe

9. Aerial shot, Giraffes in the savannah

10. Aerial shot, impalas running

May 2022, Mucheni Community Conservancy, Zimbabwe

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Chipo Munsaka, Resource Monitor, wildlife patrol team, Mucheni, Zimbabwe: “This job was regarded as for male, but as I am a girl I decided to better engage into this job because nowadays jobs… Girls must engage into these programmes in the conservation of wildlife.”

12. Medium Shot, Chipo Munsaka writing on her field book

13. Close up, Chipo Munsaka writing on her field book

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Chipo Munsaka, Resource Monitor, wildlife patrol team, Mucheni, Zimbabwe: “no poaching, no illegal activities, let's go together, no one left behind in the conservation of our wildlife for our benefit.”

15. Wide Shot, Impala in the wild

16. Close up, Impala in the wild

17. Wide Shot, Chipo Munsaka coming home

18. Medium Shot, Chipo Munsaka speaking with her mother and brother

May 2022, Rosslyn Safari, Zimbabwe

19. Close up, Giraffes

20. Medium Shot, Giraffes

21. Medium Shot, Giraffe

16 February 2023, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Hubert Boulet, Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme Coordinator FAO: “With our partners, as well as communities and national governments, we are developing practical and innovative solutions in fifteen countries. The aim is to improve wildlife conservation and food security.”

May 2022, Mucheni Community Conservancy, Zimbabwe

23. Various ways of tagging an impala for locating and tracking the animal

16 February 2023, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Hubert Boulet, Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme Coordinator FAO: “FAO is working through the Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme, with inspiring community members to reduce this conflict. One approach is through Community Conservancies, which give communities ownership and incentives to conserve wildlife.”

May 2022, Mucheni Community Conservancy, Zimbabwe

25. Close up, baboon

26. Wide shot, leopard

16 February 2023, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy

27. SOUNDBITE (English) Hubert Boulet, Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme Coordinator FAO: “Women and girls are at the heart of rural communities worldwide. They contribute to sustainable natural resource management and food security in many ways. In fact, women play a critical role in wildlife management. They can influence how their communities hunt and fish, protect areas, and comply with conservation laws.”

May 2022, Mucheni Community Conservancy, Zimbabwe

28. Close up, resource monitor talking 

29. Medium shot, Chipo Munsaka (second from camera right) participating at meeting

May 2022, Mucheni Community Conservancy, Zimbabwe

30. Medium shot, Impalas

31. Wide shot, elephants