People and Earth Solidarity Law Network (PESLawyers) and other wildlife organisations petitioned the Parliament of Zimbabwe last month requesting that information and decisions concerning the export of Zimbabwean elephants, rhinos and other wildlife be made transparent and accessible to the public.
The petitioners say they are disturbed mainly by the wildlife management practices of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, especially on the capture and export of elephants, rhinos and other wildlife that highlight lack of transparency and is being conducted without due regard for providing information on the quantity, frequency and financial or other gains from the exports to the general public and concerned citizens.
“The current capture policy of wildlife is incompatible with eco-tourism, is cruel and does not exhibit the evidence of appropriate and acceptable destinations; the continued capture and long-distance transport of live animals from Zimbabwe causes immense suffering as highlighted by research,” PESLawyers Executive Director Tinashe Chisaira said.
“The petition is based on environmental rights and the right to access information outlined in the Constitution of Zimbabwe, and more specifically access to environmental information as outlined in Section 4 (1) (b) of the Environmental Management Act and in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES Convention),” Chisaira who is also an environmental lawyer said.
The organisations are also calling upon the parliament protect the constitutionally guaranteed right of every citizen right to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations, through reasonable legislative and other measures that promote conservation.
Petitioners are also saying the Parliament has to “protect the constitutional right of every citizen to access information and the statutory right of every person to access to environmental information.”
Lawyers say the Parliament must review all legislation that negatively impacts on the welfare of animals and the general environment, and further to make legislative changes that ensure that the capture of wild elephants, rhinos and other wildlife for zoos, captive sites or non-secure foreign parks will no longer take place in Zimbabwe.
The call is on the Government of Zimbabwe to urgently to reverse, suspend or rescind such decisions by Zimparks that are not in the public interest or that contravene the statutory and constitutional environmental and access to information rights of the people.
Lawyers make a petition after Zimbabwe’s plan to export 35 baby elephants to China in February this year according to local press.
Zimbabwe recently got an international condemnation after photographs and videos of game rangers capturing elephants purportedly exported to Asia appeared on social media in 2017.
