Guardians of the Zambezi River receive tents and spotlights
The Community Conservation Fund of Namibia (CCFN) donated six tents and two spotlights to the Sikunga Fish Guard recently, which will make their resting and living space more comfortable and safe.
The Sikunga Guards are a small group of individuals from the local Sikunga Conservancy patrol a section of the Zambezi River. The guards have confirmed that in only four months, over 70km’s worth of fish nets are confiscated by the guards and the illegal fishermen, when captured are handed over to the police.
The guards also said that the spotlights are of much help them them during their evening patrols along the river in pursuit of protecting fish stocks.
“This remarkable river as well as its nearby flood plains is being over fished, as a decrease in available fish stock has been identified in the Zambezi, Chobe and Kwando river system and the guards where established in 2018 to fight this war,” they added.
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism as well as the police have joined the Sikunga Fish Guards on their patrols.
The Zambezi Rilver, which runs from the far north in Zambia, traverses through the eastern region of Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia, the northern border of Botswana continuing along the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, across Mozambique, finally reaching the warm Indian Ocean. This 2 500 km water courses qualifies the Zambezi River as the 4th longest river in Africa.
