An anti-poaching team, mostly made up of women in the Republic of South Africa, has won the top United Nations’ Environmental Program (UNEP) award known as, “Champions Of The Earth.”
The group of women, nicknamed the Black Mambas, was established in 2013 and they have since arrested six poachers, shut down five poacher camps and reduced baiting and trapping of animals by 76% in the Balule Private Game Reserve.
The UNEP said that by bestowing its Champions of the Earth award to the Black Mambas in the Inspiration and Action category, the agency has recognized the, “rapid and impressive impact,” the ranger unit has made in combating poaching and the courage required to accomplish this difficult task.
The ranger team is made of 26 women and they have been courageously patrolling the game reserve with confidence and determination to end an activity which has become a challenge for many nations in Eastern and Southern Africa.
According to the UNEP, the Balule Private Game Reserve is home to an abundance of wildlife, including not only rhinos but leopards, lions, elephants, cheetahs and hippos. The reserve is part of the Greater Kruger National Park, a network of over 2 million hectares of protected areas that are home to thousands of birds, impalas, giraffes, wildebeest, buffalo, antelopes, hyenas, crocodiles, fish and zebras.
But protecting rhinos and other endangered species has become a big challenge for South Africa. Statistics show that 1,215 rhinos were killed in 2014 alone. The UNEP says this is an increase of over 12,000 percent since 2004, and symptomatic of a devastating epidemic that has pushed the rhino closer to the edge of extinction.
The women are said to be walking almost 20km a day, looking for poachers. This is made easy for them due to their familiarity with the game reserve.
A member of the team, Leitah Mkhabela, told Time in an interview, “I am not afraid, I know what I am doing and I know why I am doing it, if you see the poachers you tell them not to try, tell them we are here and it is they who are in danger.”
UNEP Executive Director, Achim Steiner, said in a statement that protecting endangered species across the globe require help and commitment from local communities in order to be able to save these species from poachers.
“Community-led initiatives are crucial to combating the illegal wildlife trade and the Black Mambas highlight the importance and effectiveness of local knowledge and commitment. Their many successes are a result of their impressive courage and determination to make a difference in their community. The Black Mambas are an inspiration not only locally, but across the world to all those working to eliminate the scourge of the illegal wildlife trade,” he said.
Steiner also said while UNEP work contributes mostly toward ecosystem preservation and halting biodiversity loss, it also supports action-driven solutions needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which world leaders will adopt later this month after the end of the Millennium Development Goals.
The Champions Of The Earth Award aims to support the SDGs by illustrating, through the examples of the laureates, that the transition to low-carbon, resource-efficient, inclusive and sustainable economic models are not just possible but already in progress.
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