Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Prisca Mupfumira last week toured the United Kingdom where she engaged the diaspora society and presented at the Green Corridors on the protection of wildlife species which travel across borders.
The Hospitality Ministry is on a re-engagement program with the diaspora society to promote tourism in Zimbabwe and in March Mupfumira’s visit’s to the United Kingdom in March this year has resulted in a tourism marketing program.
“The United Kingdom, ladies and gentlemen, remains historically Zimbabwe’s key market,” Mupfumira said. “It is therefore my intention to promote Zimbabwe as a tourism haven for both Diasporas and non-Diasporas initiatives.”
“I wish to encourage you to come up with market specific programmes such as the one we are celebrating today.”
On the Green Corridors session, Mupfumira said identifying, mapping and securing wildlife movement corridors straddling across boundaries is key to species survival, creating more space for growing populations of our endangered and threatened wildlife that are usual targets for illegal trade and trafficking by criminal syndicates.
“Dear colleagues, concerted efforts for international cooperation to protect wildlife movement corridors and dispersal areas remains a priority at both country and at transboundary level,” Mupfumira said.
“It is also important to recognize the fact that some of the wildlife species we cherish are also regarded as pests in other areas where people are living with wildlife in abundance, resulting in human wildlife conflicts which need careful management and mitigation measures.”
“That signals a very important role that local communities should play in the conservation matrix as well as combatting illegal wildlife crime and trafficking. Local communities should remain part of our intelligence network at all levels (from local to global) to implement effective and adequate law enforcement measures,” Mupfumira goes on.
On the Heads of State session statement, the Zimbabwean Tourism Minister said the scourge of trans-national wildlife crimes is something no country can handle alone.
“With increased sophistication and technological advancement of the 21st century which has made communication and mobility much more faster and efficient, we need each other more than ever before as diverse global partners to fight the common enemy plundering our wildlife heritage,” Mupfumira said.