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Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen's move suggests that, when forced to choose, the DA leadership is more worried about hunters and wildlife ranchers than about lions in cages and a country's integrity on the world stage. Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Dion George and replace him with DA national spokesperson Willie Aucamp. On paper, it's just another reshuffle request in a fragile Government of National Unity.

Namibia's big ivory gambit: The flashpoint is Namibia's Proposal 13, which seeks CITES approval to sell more than 46 tonnes of government-owned raw ivory stockpiles for commercial purposes. Namibia argues the sale would be a one-off transaction with CITES Secretariat-verified trading partners, generating conservation revenue. The funds, they argue, would support conservation and rural communities. The secretariat, however, has raised serious concerns.

The draft strategy is skewed in favour of anthropocentric benefits - economic, spiritual and cultural - and cannot function in practical terms. South Africa's Draft National Elephant Heritage Strategy, which closed to public comment at the end of February, demands that South Africa's elephants must depend on human social and economic development for their future survival.

As a source country, transit point, and final destination for animal products, Vietnam is a central actor in the global fight against wildlife trafficking. But for years, the CITES Secretariat has reprimanded Vietnam for not doing enough to combat and dismantle criminal wildlife trade networks that poach and trade wildlife, a major threat to biodiversity and endangered species.

Two Namibian community conservancies and a tourism operator have turned to the courts to block development of a tin mine. The conservancies say the environmental impact assessments for the open-pit mine are flawed and will disturb wildlife, including critically endangered southern black rhinos. In a similiar case in the //Huab Conservancy, a copper mine disturbed wildlife in the area, forcing rhino-based tourism to shut down.

Namibia intends to "cull" 21 elephants in the dry north-west of the country where a small population of desert elephants roam In a statement issued on Monday, the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) said they plan to cull 723 wild animals, including 83 elephants, across the country and to distribute the meat to local people as a drought relief program. The so-called cull will take place in national parks and communal areas where authorities believe animal numbers exceed available grazing land and water supplies amid the ongoing drought.

An aerial survey has revealed a dramatic increase in elephant poaching in northern Botswana, with little official concern about reports of the poaching. There has been a sharp spike in elephant poaching in northern Botswana. However, there seems to be little official concern over reports of the poaching. An aerial survey in July revealed 19 poached carcasses bringing the total to 105 since October 2023.

There has been a dramatic increase in elephant poaching in northern Botswana, with little official concern about reports of the poaching. An aerial survey in July revealed 19 poached carcasses, bringing the total to 105 since October2023. Mary Rice, Executive Director of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), warns that "the increasingnumber of elephant poaching incidents being documented inBotswana should be of real concern to the widerconservation community".

This report covers the period 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019.

The first annual report on combatting wildlife crime in Namibia is a noteworthy milestone. Wildlife crime has become one of the central conservation challenges of our time. Namibia’s response to this, since the current wave of crime began, has been underpinned by one central factor – strong partnerships.