Thirty-six trainees of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism on Thursday received certificates after completing a three to four-month training in wildlife protection and law enforcement at the Waterberg Plateau Park outside Otjiwarongo.

The 25 male and 11 females trainees were recently recruited by the ministry as a startup for the newly created division of the wildlife protection services within the ministry.

Executive Director in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Teofilus Nghitila who conferred the certificates, said during the training, the graduates were equipped with basic skills in wildlife protection and law enforcement, forestry protection, nature species conservation, data collection at wildlife crime scenes, rifle handling and on human and animal rights amongst others.

“We have set ourselves a target, and that is to eradicate poaching of our wildlife and natural resources,” he said.

Nghitila highlighted that the ministry in 2016, had intensified a war against poaching after a total of 97 rhinoceros were poached in the country in 2015.

He said in 2019 about 56 rhinos were then poached, 40 in 2020, 43 in 2021 and two in 2022.

The executive director further said elephant poaching had reached a spike in 2016 when 101 were poached, noting that a decline was however observed in 2020 when 12 elephants were poached, and eight in 2021.

The country also recorded 320 cases of pangolin poaching in the last five years, he said.

Nghitila, therefore, urged the graduates to remain vigilant and always apply their newly acquired wildlife protection skills whenever they are at work.

The 22-year-old Manu Jacu, a graduate to be deployed to the Bwabwata National Game Park told Nampa at the event that he was excited as he now knows what to do, how to mingle with the wildlife and also counter fight poaching.

Another graduate, Laura Alaggan, 25, promised to excel in her wildlife protection career in the Zambezi Region where she has been deployed.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency