UK grants K310mil to Malawi for wildlife crime investigation
British Government has announced grant amounting to £297, 000 (about K310 million) to New Malawi Wildlife Crime Intelligence Unit (WCIU) project to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
British High Commissioner Michael Nevin made the announcement Tuesday during a news conference at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.
He said that this will build on previous British government funding to support law enforcement work through Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) with the Malawi authorities and the support his government is providing locally through the British High Commission.
“Malawi is marking a positive name for itself with a progressive attitude towards tackling wildlife crime. It is important that we work collectively and regionally to prevent Malawi and its neighbours from being used as source and transit points for this damaging criminal activity,” said Nevin.
He said in tandem with efforts to address issues such as corruption and professionalism, updating of legal framework and work with communities, Malawi can become a model for other countries to emulate.
Nevin said the project will help to develop sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by illegal wildlife trade through the introduction of Community Enforcement Networks whilst at the same time strengthening law enforcement in the country.
He said project partners Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW), International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust will focus on law enforcement to provide a swift and effective response to serious wildlife crimes, particularly those involving elephants and illegal ivory trade using a multi-agency approach.
Lilongwe Wildlife Trust Executive Director, Jonathan Vaughan, said the extent and nature of the illegal wildlife trade globally has escalated significantly in recent years to involve organized criminal syndicates and Malawi has fallen victim as a trafficking hotspot and a distribution and transit hub for illicit ivory.
“A special WCIU will help to strengthen law enforcement, both in terms of the role of the criminal justice system and that of communities whilst also facilitating cooperation with our regional partners.
“In conjunction with other government-led initiatives, we hope to see improved interception rates which should dater would-be wildlife criminals who currently see Malawi as a soft target, particularly when it comes to the illicit ivory trade,” said Vaughan.
He explained that Malawi has become a hotspot targeted by criminal groups for ivory trafficking, due to most its location between some of the country’s worst hit by poaching – Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia.
Deputy Director for DNPW, Chiza Manda, said this will go a long way in the fight against illegal wildlife trade and poaching that the country is currently going through.
“On behalf of the Malawi government I would like to extend my gratitude to the Challenge Fund for awarding the grant and the British High Commission for their ongoing support. We look forward to working with our NGO partners, IFAW and Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, on its delivery,” said Manda.
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Nevin will simply make Malawi poorer. By the way, do you see aid in what nevin or his britain does in Malawi? You will be shocked to learn that the actual money than Malawi and Malawians will access from this “donation” will be minus one kwacha. britain has never made any country in this world any better – be it socially, politically or economically. nevin seems to be the worst of all envoys from uk.
To say the truth malawi is # 1 corruption country in the world that can even corrupt at its own,how can we listen that the ivory its illegal and why did they valued it if it is illegal cant we think please we are still colonised by money.
Malawi will never get anything tangible from Britain. Certainly not in the era of Michael Nevin. Here is a British Ambassador whose wife organised a funeral for a dog and the employees were forced to shed tears and mourn the dog! The earlier Michael Nevin leaves the better for Malawi.
We blacks are bafoons, do we need blue eyed boys to tell us how to manage our recources? We just burnt 5 billion for Gods sake when people are dying of hunger and there are no drugs in hospitals.
SHAAA TAOTCHA 5 BILLION TAPATA 310MILLION KOMA MZUNGU NDI DOLO.
UK government be serious
TAYI NGATI PAKETI YA CHIBUKU
@1 the UK is under no obligation whatsoever to compensate for the burnt ivory. In fact what they have done is just an act of philanthropy to help us black people who have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that we cannot manage our own affairs. I mean after 52 years of the so called independence we should be told by the whites on how to take care of the environment? We should be ashamed of ourselves. No wonder the black race is least respected. We are so corrupt that we care only care about personal benefits at the expense of nation… Read more »
This is silly. Malawi government has burnt K5 billion worth of ivory only to get tiny peanuts from the British colonialists. Malawi is a poor country that needs to maximize the use of its resources and for western countries to advise a poor country like Malawi to burn ivory just shows how selfish and nasty the West is. The west destroyed its wildlife in order to urbanise and develop – let Africa use any of its resources to develop too instead of stupid leftwing campaigners dictating which animal and plant species Malawi and Africa should keep.