By Staff Reporter
Women and youth have been significantly making strides in the wildlife conservation sector, including the fight against poaching.
This comes at a time when the African Wildlife Foundation Zimbabwe (AWF) recently registered the graduation of 15 advanced coxswain trainees during a pass out parade event held at Moth Camp in Kariba on the 21st of April 2023.
This followed an intense 3-week advanced coxswain course which equipped trainees with critical knowledge and skills on wildlife conservation with a particular focus on anti-poaching and law enforcement activities within marine or water-based environments.
The training was supported by the AWF in partnership with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) and the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Boat Squadron Regiment.
The training equipped the trainees with knowledge on handling of suspects, observing human rights in anti-poaching work, first aid, physical training, weapon handling, embarking and disembarking water vessels, ecology, routine ambush and raiding patrols, boat operations, and among other modules.
Out of the 15 graduates, two were female.
One of the ladies, Rosemary Kateguru, a ranger operating from the Zambezi River Specialized Anti-Poaching Unit (ZARSAU) scooped an accolade as one of the best Advanced Coxswain trainees.
In December 2021, Kateguru, who hails from the Doma community, became the first Class 1 holder of the Launch-Master Coxswain certificate, which allows her to operate big boats in Zimbabwe.
“The training was tough this time. One would spend up to three hours swimming to enable him or her to deal with difficult situations,” said Kateguru, noting the skills gained in arresting a suspect, ambushing, and other processes involved in anti-poaching river patrol work.
Zimparks authorities also applauded women for actively taking part and excelling in such trainings.
“These trainings have continued to recognize the importance and capabilities of the girl child as we continue to value the need for gender balance and equality. I applaud women for continuing to defy the odds and for showing that female rangers can even outcompete their male counterparts by participating in more risky tasks such as operating in turbulent waters of Lake Kariba and other water bodies,” said Zimparks Director of Operations Arthur Musakwa, who addressed the pass out parade on behalf of Zimparks Director General Dr. Fulton Mangwanya.
Thomas Zhou, a 25-year-old ranger operating from Chewore North in Kapirinhengu area in the Mid-Zambezi Valley landscape won the best student award.
“Both coxswain trainings have benefitted us because the way we conduct anti-poaching river patrols is now advanced compared to what we used to do before. Now we can conduct our river patrols in a professional way and now we know how to deal with poachers who dive into the waters to escape arrest among other issues,” said Zhou.
AWF Zimbabwe Country Director Olivia Mufute acknowledged the commitment shown by the trainees given how tough the training was.
“I am very happy with the thorough and rigorous advanced coxswain training that the rangers completed. These efforts will further strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of Zimparks rangers, particularly for rangers who conduct anti-poaching river and land patrols within the Mid-Zambezi Valley landscape. With these advanced skills, Zimparks rangers will be instrumental in conducting local as well as transboundary patrols and can contribute significantly to species protection and reducing illegal wildlife trade and trafficking,” Mufute said.
The advanced coxswain training builds upon the first one in 2021.
Trainees completed a 7-week course on skills required when conducting river patrols. All the graduates are holders of valid class 1 and class 2 Launch-Master certificates. Zimparks coxswains will be deployed in Lake Kariba, Hurungwe Safari Area, Chewore Safari Area, and Dande Safari Area to foster the biodiversity conservation mandate.