3 March every year is commemorated as the UN World Wildlife Day(WWD) to celebrate and raise awareness of the world’s wild animals and plants. It has been the most important global annual event dedicated to wildlife since 2013 (CITES, 2020). For Malawi, it is technically impossible to celebrate this day as it collides with another important day, Martyrs Day. So, Malawi commemorates the WWD on some other day either within the month of March or in April as agreed by the Department of National Parks and its partners. This year, Malawi will celebrate the World Wildlife Day on 27th April 2020 under the global theme “Sustaining all Life on Earth“, encompassing all wild animal and plant species as key components of the world’s biodiversity. This aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 14 and 15, and their wide-ranging commitments on alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources, and on conserving life both on land and below water to halt biodiversity loss.
Earth is home to countless species of fauna and flora – too many to count. This rich diversity, and the billions of years during which its myriad elements have interacted, are precisely what has made our planet inhabitable for all living creatures, including humans. Historically, we have depended on the constant interplay and interlinkages between all elements of the biosphere for all our needs: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the materials we need for all purposes. However, unsustainable human activities and overexploitation of the species and natural resources that make up the habitats and ecosystems of all wildlife are imperilling the world’s biodiversity. Nearly a quarter of all species are presently at risk of going extinct in the coming decades, and their demise would only speed up the disappearance of countless others, putting us in danger as well.
Wildlife is an important attraction for tourism, providing a valuable source of livelihoods for a significant number of people— yet, terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity in Malawi is in decline. On World Wildlife Day this year, we will celebrate the special place of wild plants and animals in their many varied and beautiful forms as a component of the national and world’s biological diversity. We continue our work to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits of wildlife to people, particularly to those communities who live in closest proximity to it, and we will discuss the threats they are facing and the urgent need for government, civil society, private sector actors and individuals to add their voices and take actions to help conserve wildlife and ensure its continued use is sustainable. This article focusses on the pangolin, which is a rare and endangered species that is found in hot lakeshore areas of Malawi including Chikwawa, Nsanje and Nkhotakota.
Pangolins are in the league of world’s threatened “Big Five at CITES”, which is a group of wild animals including elephants, rhinos, sharks and tigers whose existence on planet earth is seriously threatened by poaching and illegal trafficking. According to World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), pangolins are the world’s most poached mammal. Around 1 million have been trafficked in the past decade to meet growing demand for their meat as well as their unique scales, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine (WWF, 2020). WWF says Asia had four pangolin species that have been severely depleted. Resultantly, Asian markets are increasingly being fed with African pangolins. Whiles CITES rules restrict trade in Asian species, it flexes its rules for African pangolins that they may be traded in a regulated manner.
We are aware of a burgeoning illegal in-flow of pangolins from neighbouring countries that are sold to foreigners working and residing in this country – and we are tirelessly working to track down the perpetrators.
Although updated data on Malawi’s pangolin population is not available, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife concedes that the population of pangolins in the country has substantially declined due to destruction of habitats mainly through deforestation, and poaching. Recent encounters show that people are importing these animals from neighbouring countries for sale to foreigners in Malawi. “We are aware of a burgeoning illegal in-flow of pangolins from neighbouring countries that are sold to foreigners working and residing in this country – and we are tirelessly working to track down the perpetrators”, confirmed Mr. Brighton Kumchedwa, Malawi’s Director of Parks and Wildlife. “As a Department, we are greatly concerned with illegal trade of all threatened wildlife species especially Africa’s “Big Five”, which include elephants and rhinos for which an illegal trade is rampant in Malawi and neighboring countries”, he reported. The other Big Five are the lion, leopard and Cape buffalo. In dealing with the expanding illegal wildlife trade, the country has put in place very stringent laws governing the management of these threatened species. However, the measures are often frustrated by failure by communities especially those in proximity to protected areas to report malpractices and lenient penalties meted to offenders by some courts despite the existence of clear regulations and guidelines on the determination of penalties and sentences.
This year’s commemoration of the WWD will be marked by a special function to be held in Chikwawa on 27th April 2020 showcasing a variety of activities including mounting of displays, traditional dances and poem recitals (only if the ban on mass gatherings due to COVID-19 pandemic is lifted). The Malawi Defence Forces (MDF) will do a firearm handover ceremony where it will donate 250 rifles to the Department of National Parks and Wildlife. The function will be presided over by the Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Signifying Government of Malawi’s commitment to combating wildlife crime whilst protecting and conserving Malawi’s rare and threatened wild plant and animal species.
As we reflect on this year’s World Wildlife Day, the message from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and its partners is simple and clear: let every individual, organization (public and private) know that they have a duty to protect and conserve the country’s remnant pangolins, elephants and rhinos whilst ensuring that the other plant and animal species – that are seemingly in abundance today, on land and in water bodies, are not overexploited to their extinction. Communities in the vicinity of protected areas such as national parks and wildlife reserves are encouraged to proactively participate in wildlife management activities, remain vigilant and raise alarm on suspicious hunting or harvesting activities. Security personnel should remain vigilant to illegal trade of wildlife and wildlife products within the country and across the borders; the Judiciary ought to keep abreast with and apply applicable fines and sentences to offenders. If you see something, say something and do something – to save, conserve and sustain mother Malawi’s natural capital.