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In a joint operation between South African National Parks and Environmental Crime Investigators and rangers, the south African Police services and South African National Defence Force. Three suspect rhino poachers were thwarted while trying to escape in the crocodile Bridge Ranger section of the Kruger National Park.

The team initially has found two rhino carcasses already dehorned, and upon follow-up investigations came into contact with the three armed suspected rhino poachers. A shoot-out ensued, which led to one suspect being fatally wounded and the other two arrested. The team also recovered four fresh rhino horns, a hunting rifle and an axe from the poachers.

For the team, it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t save the rhino cow and calf in time but we are convinced that with the increased measures, we have in place.

Now, the poachers are feeling the pressure and our concerted efforts are not in vain as the numbers of poaching arrests continues to rise.

According KNP, since January this years, 130 rhino have been killed and 31 suspect poachers have been arrested in the KNP.

The investigation is continuing…..

http://www.sanparks.org/parks/

There were a total of 1 500 exhibitors at this year’s event, compared with 1 610 in 2011. There were 10 700 visitors recorded at Indaba 2012 but this was not counting Tuesday (the last day). A total of 11 205 visitors attended over the four exhibition days in 2011.

According to SA Tourism, the event’s key focus was on consolidating 2011’s solid arrivals growth and cementing partnerships to ensure South Africa’s global tourism competitiveness and future growth.

A number of innovations were introduced for the first time at the event: The Shongololo Speed Marketing Sessions, a first by South African Tourism that gave exhibiting companies access to more than 200 hosted international buyers in a series of short meetings; the electronic matchmaking diary through which more than 3 700 business meetings were set up; and South African Tourism’s Indaba App, which gave delegates instant access to the event on their mobile devices.

Michael Mabuyakhulu, KZN MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, announced at the HICA conference last week that King Shaka International Airport would soon serve 10 more regional destinations. “The KZN airport strategy is currently being crafted to, amongst other things, attract more airlines into the province and strengthen existing relationships with current airlines.” He remained tight-lipped about the exact destinations and said more information would follow from June 1.

South African Express has also recently launched a direct route between Durban and various SADC countries, which will greatly increase tourism opportunities. The province has further launched a tourism buddies programme, which aims to skill frontline workers in the hospitality industry. It is also developing a master plan to guide the marketing, planning and development of the tourism sector in KZN.

Read more: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=63684

KwaZulu Natal’s MEC for Economic Development and Tourism, Michael Mabuyakhulu, has announced that the provinve is planning to build a cableway at a height almost three times of the Table Mountain in the ukkahlamba Drakensberg.

Mabuyakhulu, who unveiled the plan at Indaba 2012, said the projet would change the tourism landscape. A detailed feasibility study on the proposed drakensberg Cable car was about to get under way.
One of the preferred sites is in the Mnweni Valley near the Royal Natal National Parksection of the World Heritage Site. The proposed summit station would be in Lesotho…

Read more: http://www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=63707

This year, the exhibition has developed the theme “The future of tourism in our hands”.

INDABA took place at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Convention Centre. Its Africa’ top travel and tourism exhibition in the Southern Hemisphere.

Read more: http://www.indaba-southafrica.co.za/

Once distributed across all Africa except the Congo rainforest, cheetahs have vanished from 77 per cent of their historical range on the continent. In Asia they persist only in Iran. Recent research has improved our understanding of their roots, and this could help conservationists to put a brake on their decline

Rhino rehabilitation expert Karen Trendler has joined forces with the endangered wildlife trust to launch the rhino orphan response project, which will coordinate efforts to deal with the sharp increase in the number of injured and orphaned victims of rhino poaching.

While the care of these animals was an ad hoc basis, many were taken by predators or destroyed by owners.

Who did not have the means to care for them. The project aims to improve the response to poaching situations, to get to the scene as soon as we can and provide the best possible treatment needed ”says Trendler”. If there is a surviving calf, we take over. We want to rehabilitate calves and get them back into the wild, as this is the best for rhino.

Conservation, they must breed. The project will include special training courses for vets and members of anti-poaching units.

Economic growth, debt relief, and increasing political stability have opened up new opportunities for many African countries to take charge of their water supply and sanitation sectors and to develop sustainable service delivery pathways.

Many low-income countries now have an unprecedented opportunity to dramatically reduce the number of people without access to water source by defining new ways of viable provision by 2015, according to a new report published by the Water and Sanitation Programme from the World Bank.

Read more: http://www.afriqueavenir.org/en/2011/09/06/democratization-of-access-to-clean-water-in-africa/

Ecological degradation

Safeguarding forests and natural habitats

Africa is losing 4 million hectares of forest every year, twice the world’s average deforestation rate. While deforestation may increase agricultural land, it also leads to only short-lived agricultural productivity as land nutrients are depleted. Approximately 50 per cent of Africa’s eco-regions have lost 50 per cent of their areas to degradation, cultivation or urbanization, according to UNEP. Africa still has over 2 million square kilometres of protected areas. Nevertheless, the continent’s coastal areas continue to confront problems associated with oil and mineral extraction, uncontrolled fishing, mismanagement of mangrove forests and coastal development. Forest trees are being used to build shelters and for charcoal, destroying the habitats of many species.

Read more: http://www.un.org/en/africarenewal/vol26no1/sustainable-development-priorities.html

A tragic loss and yet another rhino death scarred SA’s tourism industry this past weekend as groups of rhino poachers attacked three of the herd of six resident rhinos living in Aquila Private Game Reserve near Cape Town. Within the last year, Aquila’s anti poaching team has deterred two attempted rhino poaching attempts. In this weekend’s case, Aquila’s anti-poaching team is said to have surprised the poachers as the first rhino was found with its front horn sawn off with a chain saw and they left having only had time to get half way through the second horn before retreating. This rhino has lost a lot of blood and is fighting for his life. The loss of blood and position it was lying in while drugged could have caused massive muscle and organ damage which could be fatal. This rhino was the first rhino reintroduced to Aquila and to the Western Cape in over 250 years since shot out by hunters. The second rhino that was found was still alive and is recovering well. A third rhino died in the attacks; its face literally hacked off with pangas and machetes proving that there were two active teams attacking the Aquila rhinos, one using a chain saw, the other using pangas and machetes to dehorn the rhino. Aquila’s remaining three rhino are safe and fine. The security team has been briefed and 24 guards have been positioned at strategic points along the boundaries and on higher ground to keep guard. Rhino poachers are well equipped, heavily armed with automatic weapons, night and thermal vision equipment and well trained their modus operandi is to fly at night with thermal vision. They can spot a rhino through bushes and mist over four miles away, they GPS the location of the rhino and drop their poaching teams off several kilometers away to walk in and normally dart the baby first so that the mother and father stay to protect and don’t run away. These teams are ruthless and will stop at nothing to kill and maim for financial gain. In this case they got away with a street value of over 4 million rand in rhino horn. Aquila is offering R100 000 reward for information leading to an arrest and prosecution of these poachers. Informants details, which will be kept confidential,can contact searl@aquilasafari.com. Anyone wanting to monitor the progress of the rhino and the anti poaching campaign can follow Aquila on Facebook (www.facebook.com/aquilasafari) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/aquilasafaris) pages.

Source: www.tourismupdate.co.za/NewsDetails.aspx?newsId=60443