Dear All
I am pleased to be able to report a further expansion and breakthrough for our project that has resulted from the rather unfortunate events reported in late 2007 where a leopard died in the eastern part of the Western Cape
I am pleased to be able to report a further expansion and breakthrough for our project that has resulted from the rather unfortunate events reported in late 2007 where a leopard died in the eastern part of the Western Cape
Many of you got involved in the appeals and campaign that went out with the press release of then (21 December 2007). It has resulted in a number of processes and discussions that followed from it (and in no small way your interventions had a role to play), and in so doing the Landmark Foundation and CapeNature has formally embarked on a partnership to expand our work and strengthen their actions in the eastern part of the Western Cape. This will enable the work we are doing in and around Addo National Park, the Baviaanskloof Reserve and Tsitsikammas to be expanded into the Garden Route and the Little Karoo. (Please see the attached press release.) We trust that this will enable us to build on the success of being able to rescue and return 15 leopards to the wild in this region in the last few years. Having the statutory authority in the Western Cape also as an integrated partner in our efforts will, we trust, be a great boost for predator and leopard conservation in the region.
I believe that this partnership is important to the cause that we are working towards, and I am sure it will continue to spur others on to join the efforts, namely:
[press release follows]
Kind regards
Bool
Press Release 18 February 2008
Partnership in Predator Conservation
CapeNature and the Landmark Foundation have established an integrated partnership in predator conservation. This partnership is an ambitious endeavour to see predators conserved across the living landscape. The project is aimed at innovative and proactive management interventions, supported by research and market solutions to the livestock-predator conundrum.
This partnership follows from the unfortunate events in November and December 2007 where a leopard died in a gin trap near the Kammanassie Nature Reserve near Uniondale in the Western Cape. In the lessons learnt from this event both organisations have agreed to work together in establishing a partnership that will proactively try to address the challenges of predator conservation in agriculturally active areas. The initial area of focus of this partnership will be mutually agreed areas of the eastern region of the Western Cape. (The Landmark Foundation has been operational in the western region of the Eastern Cape since 2004.)
The partnership will focus on conserving predators with a particular focus on the leopards. Extension services will be jointly provided to try and convert farming in the region to holistic, non-lethal predator control methods that will enable livestock predation to be effectively managed. Both organisations commit themselves to work towards terminating the indiscriminate use of leghold (gin) traps, poison traps and hunting dog packs. Further efforts will jointly be made to bring in more land into biodiversity conservation through collaboration with commercial farmers.
The use of gin traps to manage other damage-causing animals such as caracal or black-backed jackal often results in the capture of a leopard. Records of such incidents show that the overwhelming majority of leopards are caught in traps set for other target species. The events that led to the death of the leopard last November on the boundary of the Kammanassie Nature Reserve have been fully investigated and it was found that the leopard was caught in a trap allegedly set for a jackal.
While the circumstances surrounding this animal’s death are regrettable, both parties now commit themselves to providing capacity to manage future situations jointly to the benefit of leopard, predator and biodiversity conservation. CapeNature and Landmark Foundation will work together on efforts to ensure that farmers who conserve biodiversity patterns and processes, and in particular in this partnership the process of top-predation, benefit from predator-friendly initiatives and related industry directives in the production of meat and animal fibre products.
Both parties commit themselves to the partnership and will pool their resources to develop innovative and proactive strategies to conserve predators. In this regard staff from both institutions have already initiated joint meetings with landowners and commercial farmers. Where leopard damage activity is identified, efforts will be made to use modern acceptable methods to manage the situation, and in so doing ensure that unacceptable control methods such as gin traps, poisons and hunting dogs are removed from the landscapes where the parties are collaborating, and beyond.
The partnership between CapeNature (Western CapeNature Conservation Board) and the Landmark Foundation (a registered NGO), will be governed by a formal Memorandum of Understanding.
I believe that this partnership is important to the cause that we are working towards, and I am sure it will continue to spur others on to join the efforts, namely:
- Rescuing and releasing predators and particularly leopards,
- Supporting holistic, non-lethal predator control strategies,
- Advocating an end to the use of gin and poison traps, and indiscriminate hunting packs of dogs
- Research in predator ecology, behaviours and strategies to manage them
- Developing of market mechanisms towards predator-friendly agricultural products
- Expanding leopard- and predator - safe territories.
[press release follows]
Kind regards
Bool
Press Release 18 February 2008
Partnership in Predator Conservation
CapeNature and the Landmark Foundation have established an integrated partnership in predator conservation. This partnership is an ambitious endeavour to see predators conserved across the living landscape. The project is aimed at innovative and proactive management interventions, supported by research and market solutions to the livestock-predator conundrum.
This partnership follows from the unfortunate events in November and December 2007 where a leopard died in a gin trap near the Kammanassie Nature Reserve near Uniondale in the Western Cape. In the lessons learnt from this event both organisations have agreed to work together in establishing a partnership that will proactively try to address the challenges of predator conservation in agriculturally active areas. The initial area of focus of this partnership will be mutually agreed areas of the eastern region of the Western Cape. (The Landmark Foundation has been operational in the western region of the Eastern Cape since 2004.)
The partnership will focus on conserving predators with a particular focus on the leopards. Extension services will be jointly provided to try and convert farming in the region to holistic, non-lethal predator control methods that will enable livestock predation to be effectively managed. Both organisations commit themselves to work towards terminating the indiscriminate use of leghold (gin) traps, poison traps and hunting dog packs. Further efforts will jointly be made to bring in more land into biodiversity conservation through collaboration with commercial farmers.
The use of gin traps to manage other damage-causing animals such as caracal or black-backed jackal often results in the capture of a leopard. Records of such incidents show that the overwhelming majority of leopards are caught in traps set for other target species. The events that led to the death of the leopard last November on the boundary of the Kammanassie Nature Reserve have been fully investigated and it was found that the leopard was caught in a trap allegedly set for a jackal.
While the circumstances surrounding this animal’s death are regrettable, both parties now commit themselves to providing capacity to manage future situations jointly to the benefit of leopard, predator and biodiversity conservation. CapeNature and Landmark Foundation will work together on efforts to ensure that farmers who conserve biodiversity patterns and processes, and in particular in this partnership the process of top-predation, benefit from predator-friendly initiatives and related industry directives in the production of meat and animal fibre products.
Both parties commit themselves to the partnership and will pool their resources to develop innovative and proactive strategies to conserve predators. In this regard staff from both institutions have already initiated joint meetings with landowners and commercial farmers. Where leopard damage activity is identified, efforts will be made to use modern acceptable methods to manage the situation, and in so doing ensure that unacceptable control methods such as gin traps, poisons and hunting dogs are removed from the landscapes where the parties are collaborating, and beyond.
The partnership between CapeNature (Western CapeNature Conservation Board) and the Landmark Foundation (a registered NGO), will be governed by a formal Memorandum of Understanding.
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