Monetary compensation for damage caused by wildlife

FARMERS and rural communities can now count on financial compensation for livestock or crop losses caused by wild animals.

For sheep, pigs or donkeys killed by wild animals farmers can expect N$250, while Government will pay out N$500 for a horse and N$1 500 for a bull or a cow. For crop damage caused by elephants or hippos, there will be N$800 paid out for a full hectare and N$200 per quarter hectare. Should a person be killed by a wild animal, N$5 000 will be paid out for funeral expenses.The Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) held a conference with traditional leaders and representatives of the over 50 rural conservancies in Windhoek last week to discuss the implementation of the new policy on human-wildlife conflict.One of the guidelines within the policy makes provision for areas where there is regular conflict to be declared as conflict zones for which solutions and mechanisms to reduce conflicts between humans and wild animals must be found.’Human-wildlife conflict is nothing new and has been happening through the centuries and will also remain in a country with diverse land use patterns,’ Environment Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said at the conference. ‘With an increase in the population and thus also farming activities such as livestock and game farming, the chances of conflict increase.’Delegates to the conference expressed concern that fences around conservancies and national parks are not maintained. It was requested that sufficient and continuous monitoring should be carried out to speed up decision-making on reported conflicts. Commercial farmers were concerned about certain obscurities around the applicability of the policy in commercial areas. Conservancies in commercial farming areas do not have the same legal basis as the communal conservancies. The policy requires that farmers, community members or owners of livestock whose animals are killed must report the incident to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, whose staff will investigate the matter. Carcasses of killed livestock must be left as evidence at the place where they were killed. If there is insufficient evidence, the claim for compensation cannot be processed.The compensation will be paid from the Game Products Trust Fund.