THE CHALLENGE
Ten years ago, institutions lacked both the necessary resources and strategies to address the problem of wildlife crime. Despite this, individuals from South Africa’s Department of Forestry Fisheries and the Environment, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, South African National Parks and Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC), supported by Peace Parks Foundation stepped up, determined to confront the challenge head-on. A decade later, with tried and tested strategies integrated within state structures, across borders, this programme has had a role in shaping systems to combat wildlife crime in southern Africa.
OUR SOLUTION
Peace Parks believes that conservation at scale creates healthy landscapes and resilient communities, able to adapt to the effects/impacts of climate change. Addressing wildlife and forest crime is essential for maintaining environmental stability and community well-being. Peace Parks Foundation works in specific parks through partnership agreements in transboundary landscapes in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries to achieve this.
Core to our work is our dedicated combatting wildlife crime unit led by a team of indomitable women who have been working with partners and government agencies to devise and deploy successful solutions across international borders within the SADC region.
The Rhino Protection Programme, launched by Peace Parks Foundation 10 years ago with a catalytic EUR 14.4 million donation from Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund, has changed the way southern Africa manages wildlife and nature.
From the Rhino Protection Programme, several impactful interventions and innovative approaches have emerged, including the South African Integrated Wildlife Zones initiative funded by the U.S. Department of State International Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL). In this ongoing project, seven integrated zones have been established, demarcating key rhino populations within both state and privately owned protected areas. This zonal model bypasses limitations imposed by boundaries and facilitates unprecedented cooperation leading to more effective conservation efforts.
Recognition of the need to control rhino crime centrally, at a national level, led to the development of the Fusion Centre and systems that included the national environmental crime database. The Environmental Enforcement Fusion Centre (EEFC) coordinates tactical engagement with security sector role players in the country. It also brings together national and provincial government, and private rhino owners.
All of this is coordinated through the Integrated Wildlife Zones Committee, led by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE). Here multi-sectoral sharing of knowledge gained through lessons learnt has been a key driver of the joint protection of South Africa’s national rhino population.
Peace Parks’ Combatting Wildlife Crime in Numbers 2023
In South Africa, wildlife protection efforts have shifted from reactive responses to being more proactive, with significant progress made by the DFFE and other entities. Predictive solutions that include a robust intelligence-led response have evolved, targeting higher-level criminals responsible for orchestrating organised crime in the country. This is supported by superior datasets and analysis systems that are centrally located in the fusion centre and available to law-enforcement teams, creating a matrix of knowledge where miscreants can be tracked across the country. The Department reported a firm downward trend in the numbers of rhinos killed in South Africa from 2014 onwards, with numbers dropping by a substantial 68% during that period, from 1215 in 2014 to 394 in 2020.
Groundbreaking technology saves Kruger's rhinos
The years following COVID-19 shutdowns have seen a surge in rhino crime, resulting in a slight uptick in the number of rhinos killed. Numbers increased to 451 in 2021, 448 in 2022 and 499 in 2023. January to June 2024, 229 rhinos have been killed, with the majority of these in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal.
The national intelligence picture on wildlife crime in South Africa is brought together by the DFFE’s leading wildlife crime analysts, and bolstered by their newly established, digital forensics capability. Their collective knowledge and understanding of this incredibly complex situation informs national joint intelligence-led operations and investigations that continue to disrupt rhino horn trafficking supply chains.
Sensors are key to intelligence. They are placed on vehicles, radios, rangers and, of course, the animals we are protecting. This is how our team knows where these assets are and how they are moving, at the same time as having access to intelligence about the movement of suspects, then they have all the information needed to make decisions that save lives.
Towering over Zinave: The Power of Tracking Technology
Aerial support remains an important force multiplier in combatting wildlife crime. Through the Wildlife Zones Project, we contract the Bataleurs , a non-profit organisation of volunteer pilot members, who donate their time and aircraft to monitor and respond to wildlife crime incidents in areas that do not have their own aircraft – to do surveillance or respond to incidents. Poachers are very wary of the alacrity of aerial support, especially helicopters.
We are taking many hard-won lessons into the future as a collective of people, funders, organisations, and countries. Ten years on, our joint national and multi-national coordination between state and non-state protected areas is enabling preventative, sustainable solutions, addressing root causes, and building institutional resilience to crime and corruption.