Vigilance a price we must pay to protect our wildlife

In all honesty, it is hard to say whether apparently positive development suggests that all our forests and parks are now much safer wildlife sanctuaries than they have previously been – or it is merely that any “transgressions” there are elicit less media coverage.    

Some three years ago we quoted sources blaming part of the pillage of our wildlife reserves on corruption by dishonest officials, with village officials and other residents of areas surrounding the sanctuaries crying foul but too scared stiff to help.

For instance, surveys in several forest reserves in Tanga Region showed that security at some entry points where there were supposed to be rigorous checks was no longer water-tight and village “informers” remained tight-lipped even while knowing for a fact that corrupt law-enforcement agents were routinely found wanting when it came to identifying both suspects and confirmed culprits.

As happened, officials at some village bordering forest and other nature reserves said openly that they had long stopped reporting cases of illegal logging because they were afraid of finding themselves in danger.

The reserves cited included Amani and Derema, which lie some 30 kilometres from Muheza Town and have for decades served as catchments of several rivers such as Zigi – on which Tanga City heavily depends for its domestic and other water needs.

The river is also home to thousands of butterflies, which were those days exported to Europe and the Americas to earn residents of the area much-needed income.

Illustrating the gravity of the situation, one village chairman said: “We once arrested illegal loggers inside Amani Nature Reserve. I took him to the police station but, surprisingly, he was back on the streets as a free man even before I made it back home. He was walking just behind me, cruel-faced. I was shocked and decided to flee for my life.”

But a member of a national network of community groups involved in participatory forest management swore that illegal logging would end if all dishonest district forest officials and security officials posted at strategic checkpoints were made more accountable or were shown the door.

It is possible that there are still self-serving officials dragging their feet on cooperating with village environmental committees as expected in ensuring observance of laws and regulations governing the conservation of forest reserves.

So, the war must continue, without the slightest tolerance of repeats of cases of illegal loggers being intercepted and subsequently being taken to police stations, only to be set free on the flimsiest of pretexts.

Luckily, we know of public agencies and officials who see a solution in the citizenry’s appreciation of the need to safeguard and promote the wildlife we are blessed with – and are acting accordingly.

This will call for years of vigorous and relentless public sensitisation, and it might mean spending hefty amounts of money. But it would surely be worthy investment going into a worthy cause.