BY OBERT SIAMILANDU COMMUNITIES in wildlife areas are set to benefit from international hunting activities after the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) approved that 100% of the revenue should go to communities through Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (Campfire) programmes.
“We are going to start paying 100% of international hunting revenue to Campfire communities (local hunting communities) in the next two months,” ZimParks director-general Fulton Upenyu Mangwanya said during an elephant conference in Hwange recently.
“The 100% hunting revenue will go to hunting communities for the first time in Zimbabwe. This would be a great achievement towards democratising wildlife management to rural communities.”
Chairperson of re-established Campfire association, Ishmael Chaukura said: “The idea of giving communities 100% payment of international hunting revenue is good as it aims to maximise benefits to local communities living with wildlife. There is need to lobby for greater community benefits from their wildlife resources.”
He also said full retention of hunting revenues by communities would allow them to timely receive income from wildlife, unlike in the past when some rural district councils delayed paying communities their share of revenue from hunts.
- Follow Obert on Twitter @osiamilandu