Ministry forks out N$24 million to compensate losses from wildlife conflict
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism has paid more than N$24million since 2019 to victims affected by losses caused by wild animals.
Incidences of human-wildlife conflict (HWC) however remain a concern as they seem to overshadow the benefits as well as opportunities created for Namibians while managing HWC remains a challenge, ministerial spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said in a statement this week.
According to Muyunda, these incidences mainly involve livestock losses, crop damages, loss of life, and injuries both affecting the livelihoods of the people.
Consequently, the Ministry has paid N$2,963,852 for livestock losses; N$2,569,200 for crop damages; N$640,000 for injuries; N$3,300,000 for loss of life from 2019 to date. Within the same period N$14, 695,110 was paid to conservancies to offset HWC losses to their members.
Muyunda said the ministry has administered 33 claims for loss of life of which 15 were in 2022 and 2 so far in 2023 with crocodiles, hippos, and elephants being the main scourge.
“In terms of crop damages, 2637 hectares were destroyed by wild animals of which 270 hectares were recorded in 2022 and 60 hectares so far in 2023 mainly by elephants. A total of 862 livestock were killed by predators namely crocodiles, hyenas, lions, wild dogs, leopards, and jackals of which 204 was recorded in 2022 and 9 in 2023 to date,” he added.
A total of 54 people were injured within the same period, 15 in 2022 and 3 in 2023 to date, he said.
Muyunda said to mitigate the impact of HWC the ministry has developed a national policy on HWC management highlighting the types of conflicts and possible mitigation measures.
