Qangwa Villagers Reap P3m From Hunting Auction
Mbongeni Mguni | Monday April 19, 2021 15:19
The community trust auction held in Gumare, was the only one scheduled for this year after the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) rolled over all other quotas from last year’s aborted season. While communities and professional hunters had secured licences last year, the hunting season could not get underway due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
The DWNP issued fresh licences for the citizen hunting quota and rolled over the rest, except for a new allocation for Qangwa, which previously had not been considered after the resumption of hunting in 2019.
On Thursday, the DWNP, on behalf of the trust, auctioned species ranging from elephants to zebra and wildebeest, with reserve prices ranging from P150,000 each for elephants and P2,000 each for duikers. The Monitor is informed that the five elephants on offer eventually fetched P650,000 each, well above their reserve price, while the plus P3 million returns from the auction are three times higher than the total reserve prices for all species of P1.1 million.
Trust chair, Joseph Katjahangue said the community will be meeting sometime this week to decide which projects to embark upon with the funds.
“We will look at income-generating projects and other works that have to be done in the community,” he said.
“This could include setting up a craft shop and perhaps building an office for the trust because we have been operating without one.
“But the community will make the final decisions about what to use the money on.”
Qangwa, located near the Namibian border, has about 1,000 residents and limited infrastructure consisting of a primary school and health post. Residents depend on villages such as Nokaneng and Gumare for most of their needs. A 2015 national poverty survey by Statistics Botswana classified 442 people in Qangwa as poor, indicating that the recent returns from the auction will be eagerly received by the community. The Monitor is informed that the elephant quota, which was being sold as a single block, was scooped up by a Maun company that reportedly has international backers.
The finalisation of the auction means the successful bidders can either utilise the licences themselves or bring in hunters, even from outside the country, to take them up.
This year’s hunting season represents the first full successful one since President Mokgweetsi Masisi lifted the moratorium on hunting in 2019. A recent Government Gazette notice indicates the hunting season will stretch from April 6 to September and December, depending on the type of quota issued.