CLEAR AS MUD – The Official Response to Questions Relating to Trophy Hunting in the Associated Private Nature Reserves, the Greater Kruger National Park

The EMS Foundation has previously placed on record, during discussions and within written submissions to the DEFF High Level Panel and other and in the Parliament of South Africa, that the management of hunting on privately-owned land that is open to the Kruger National Park is not effectively governed. Furthermore we have noted that the enforcement of laws and protocols intended to protect the biodiversity of the national park is weak.

Animals that are not allowed to be hunted in the KNP are allowed to be hunted in these private areas, we believe that this is a contradiction and goes against a conservation imperative. The EMS Foundation has proposed that an investigation be conducted into the effectiveness of the governance framework and that recommendations are made for reform.

The South African Constitution provides that everyone has the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that promote conservation as well as securing ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources.

In South African law, the wildlife within the KNP is held in trust for the benefit of people of South Africa and the state is merely a trustee. Where a national park is open to privately-owned land where hunting or other consumptive uses are allowed, as is the case with the KNP and the Associated Private Nature Reserves, the management of the wildlife within the open system must at the very least be transparent, accountable and strictly controlled.

Relevant laws, policies and protocols are being flouted as animal from the KNP are being hunted in the open system. Numerous reported trophy hunting incidents of lions, elephants and other animals have clearly highlighted that animals from the KNP―who are playing vital genetic and ecological roles, are key individuals in their own complex social communities and generate important income for both the KNP and private reserves through ecotourism―are being killed for profit in some of the APNR reserves.

There is clear evidence that the hunting protocols governing the private game reserves adjoining the KNP are not being properly enforced.

National laws apply equally everywhere in the Republic. The fact that the key regulations protecting threatened and vulnerable species are selectively implemented is a failure of governance and the rule of law.

The current cooperative agreement between the KNP and the private nature reserves was concluded in direct contravention of a resolution by Parliament and has several key weaknesses including, but not limited to:

a. hunting and benefit sharing are regulated by means of protocols adopted by a Joint Committee;

b. compliance by the parties with protocols adopted by the Joint Committee, including hunting and benefit sharing protocols, is not mandatory;

c. there are no penalties for non-compliance with the protocols;

d. meetings of the Joint Committee are not open to other stakeholders except by invitation; and

e. the Joint Committee has no legal personality and it is not clear whether it is public body and subject to the stricter access to information provisions in the Promotion of Access to Information Act, Act, 2000.

The EMS Foundation hereby proposes that an immediate moratorium on trophy hunting in the APNR reserves is imposed while an independent investigation is conducted into hunting in these reserves.

Such an investigation should in our view include at a minimum:

a. scrutiny of specific hunting incidents as have been raised by non-state actors and the media (some examples have been included in the “Resources for Panel Review below”);

b. a review and feasibility of the agreement between SANParks and the APNR and all relevant protocols; and

c. the opportunity for the public to participate meaningfully in all these processes.

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