Fwd: [sudans-john-ashworth] Wildlife Losses In South Sudan

[Elisabeth Janaina]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "John Ashworth" <ashwor...@gmail.com>
Date: 8 Mar 2017 16:35
Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] Wildlife Losses In South Sudan
To: "Group" <sudans-joh...@googlegroups.com>
Cc:

U.S. Government Outlines Wildlife's Losses In South Sudan

Established by the United Nations in 2013, March 03 is a day
designated to celebrate the world's biodiversity and to raise
awareness about the need to protect wildlife.

06 March 2017

TORIT, 04 March 2017 [Gurtong] – The theme of this year's World
Wildlife Day is "Listen to the Young Voices."  Youth in South Sudan
play an important role in protecting the nation's heritage by fighting
poaching and illegal trade in wildlife.

In a press release issued on Friday, the US stated that as conflict,
food insecurity and economic hardship threaten the well-being of the
people of South Sudan, so do these conditions threaten the country's
wildlife populations by exacerbating illicit trade in bush meat, rare
species and ivory.

The statement said although the territory of South Sudan is host to
one of the world's largest mammal migrations, there has been a
worrisome reduction in many of the country's wildlife populations.

According to the internationally renowned Wildlife Conservation
Society (WCS), a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
partner, South Sudan has been suffering from the following losses
since the 1970s:

*         Giraffes declined 99.7 percent, from 100,000 to 300
*         Elephants declined 97 percent, from 80,000 to fewer than 2,500
*         Tiang antelope declined 92 percent, from 2 million to 155,000
*         Mongalla gazelles declined 69 percent, from 900,000 to 275,000
*         White-eared kob antelope declined 20 percent, from 1 million
to 800,000

The US government reiterated that to combat these negative trends, the
U.S. Government, through USAID and its WCS partner, has since 2008
provided substantial technical and financial support to the Ministry
of Wildlife and Natural Resources to combat poaching and illicit
wildlife trafficking in South Sudan.

This valuable and longstanding partnership includes assistance to
local communities to develop and utilize livestock management
practices.  These practices help reduce inter-communal conflict,
including disputes over grazing areas or land encroachment.

With USAID's support, WCS has also mapped South Sudan's wildlife
population, trained park rangers and educated communities on the
importance of wildlife protection.

"South Sudan's wildlife populations are a priceless resource for the
country and for our shared global heritage," said U.S. Ambassador to
South Sudan Molly Phee. "Wildlife stock levels, already dangerously
low in 2013, have suffered from additional death and displacement as a
result of renewed internal conflict.  We are proud of our partnership
with the Ministry and local communities, and remain committed to
collaboration on efforts to protect these wildlife populations.  In
support of this year's theme, we call on the youth of South Sudan, who
will inherit this extraordinary legacy, to join the effort to
safeguard the country's unique biodiversity."

http://www.gurtong.net/ECM/Editorial/tabid/124/ctl/ArticleView/mid/519/articleId/20280/US-Government-Outlines-Wildlifes-Losses-In-South-Sudan.aspx

See also https://ss.usembassy.gov/pr-03032017/

END1
______________________
John Ashworth

ashwor...@gmail.com

+254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile)
+211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile)
+44 787 976 8030 (UK mobile)
+88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone)
Skype: jashworth1

PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya

This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily
reflect the views of any organisation

--
--
The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited.

You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group.
To post to this group, send email to sudan-john-ashworth@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sudan-john-ashworth-unsub...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudans-john-ashworth" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to sudans-john-ashworth+unsub...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/sudans-john-ashworth.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.