Tanzania gets two planes to boost anti-poaching effort

MARC NKWAME in Arusha

THE anti-poaching campaign has received a boost following the donation of two surveillance aircrafts worth over 1bn/- by Germany - to be used in the fight against illegal wildlife killings in the national parks and game reserves.

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Each to be manned by two personnel, the planes are specifically made for low flying aerial patrol and will be dispatched to Selous, which is the largest game reserve on the continent and to Serengeti, the country’s second largest national park.

“My country has been assisting and will continue to support conservation efforts in Tanzania and the rest of Africa,” affirmed German Foreign Minister, Dr Frank-Walter Steinmeier, during his brief tour of Arusha where he met national parks and wildlife conservation officials here.

“German’s assistance to wildlife conservation is historical,” explained the Director General of Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), Dr Allan Kijazi, during the symbolic handover of the two planes at the Arusha Airport on Sunday.

He, however, pointed out that the two planes are on their way to Tanzania having been shipped from Europe to Nairobi via the Mombasa port.

“The aircrafts had been transported here in pieces and will be assembled in Nairobi,” explained Dr Kijazi, adding that each of the reconnaissance planes is valued at 250,000 US dollars thus the total donation for the two donated planes is to the tune of 1.1bn/-.

At the moment, Tanzania has a total of 16 national parks, 29 game reserves and one (Ngorongoro) conservation area. The country has thus dedicated more than 35 per cent of its total geographical area for conservation purposes.

Since Tanzania occupies nearly one million square kilometres, the 350,000 square kilometres set aside for wildlife conservation and natural resources remains the largest in the world.

The Acting Director General of Tanzania Wildlife Authority, Mr Martin Looiboki, said with such massive area dedicated to conservation, efforts to patrol the precinct can be challenging and lauded German’s contribution to aid the anti-poaching drive.

“Poaching incidence have gone down but this does not mean we are going to relax, the next battle is to ensure that these rackets do not resurface again,” explained Mr Looiboki.