SPEECH BY
H.E. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA AT A FUND
RAISING GALA DINNER ORGANISED BY THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION OF
TANZANIA HELD AT THE MOVENPICK HOTEL, DAR ES SALAAM 20th JUNE, 2006
Your Excellency,
Benjamin William Mkapa former President
of the
Patron of the Wildlife Conservation of
Hon. Anthony
Diallo (MP), Minister for Natural
Resources and Tourism;
Mr. Gerard
Pasanisi, Executive Vice President of the Wildlife
Conservation Foundation of
Mr. Jacques
Servais, Representing His Imperial and Royal Highness
Archduke Lorenz of
Mzee Andy
Chande – Chairman of the Organising;
Mzee George
Kahama – Secretary of the Foundation;
Members of the Diplomatic
Corps;
Distinguished Invited
Guests;
Ladies and
Gentlemen.
I apologise on behalf of my
wife. There is a funeral in the family.
My brother-in-law: husband of my elder sister died the day before
yesterday. My wife is representing me
while I am busy performing state functions.
I
feel greatly honoured to join you tonight at this third gala dinner of the
Wildlife Conservation Foundation of Tanzania.
I am
particularly delighted that my predecessor, President Benjamin William Mkapa,
one of the pillars of this Foundation, has graced this occasion with his
presence.
I am
also gratified that His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Lorenz of
Austria-Este, has sent a capable representative in Mr. Jacques Servais.
I thank
all invited guests for having found time to attend this event and extend your
support to conserve our wildlife, which form part of our natural assets in this
country.
Mr.
President,
Some years ago, shaken by the new
spell of poaching, and possessed by deep sense of love for nature, men and
women of reason founded this esteemed organisation.
Today,
we celebrate a noble tradition of this Foundation, a dinner gala, where patrons
and members, joined by friends and well-wishers, give practical meaning to the
concern for wildlife conservation.
I
have no doubt that this gala will mark yet another milestone in the life of
this Foundation, and indeed in our efforts to protect wildlife.
Invited
Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
The
daunting and noble task of wildlife conservation in our country is proportional
to the majesty and abundance of this inheritance. In meeting this
responsibility, the successive governments in
“The survival of our wildlife is a matter of grave
concern to all of us in
In accepting the trusteeship of our wildlife we
solemnly declare that we will do everything in our power to make sure that our
children’s grand-children will be able to enjoy this rich and precious
inheritance”
These words of wisdom, elegant in their
rendition and pregnant with hope, form the spinal column of reference in our
efforts to preserve wildlife. They indeed summarise the conservation spirit and
vision of our country.
Mr.
President;
In accepting the challenging
aspirations expressed by our Father of the Nation, my government will remain
committed to protecting and developing the wildlife and its habitats.
As
we have been informed by the Hon. Minister in his speech, approximately 38% of
our country’s land area is designated for wildlife protection and
conservation.
We
are committed to maintain the size of wildlife protected area. We do so with keen awareness that the
existence of a sizeable wild animal populations is a good indicator of the availability
of a healthy natural environment.
However, we must admit that it is a daunting
task to achieve effective management in these vast areas using government
resources alone.
It
is with this understanding that we have been collaborating with individuals,
institutions as well as multilateral and bilateral partners in the conservation
of our wildlife resources.
Indeed,
it is for this reason that this fundraising gala is a very important occasion.
I am told that past funds raised from this
gala allowed a donation of three specially-equipped vehicles for surveylance of
the large territories dedicated to wildlife. We thank you most sincerely for
the effort. I am proud and honoured to be associated with in this noble
undertaking.
It is my hope that the conservationist
enthusiasm of this gathering will be contagious enough to inspire other men and
women of goodwill to also extend their hand of support.
Mr.
President, Ladies and Gentlemen;
My
government understands the relationship between economic growth and
environmental conservation. We are of the view that the two aspirations can be
pursued simultaneously without compromising each other.
Indeed,
wildlife and environmental protection form an integral part of our economic
plans and development strategies. We have ensured that our historic environmental
protection obligations are embedded in our national policies and programmes, particularly
the “National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty” (MKUKUTA).
In
essence, we have succeeded in mainstreaming environmental protection in the national
planning processes. This is crucial because we can now ensure that economic
growth does not affect conservation – and vice versa.
Indeed,
as a result, we hope that our partners in conservation will support the
implementation of MKUKUTA.
Mr.
President, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
I am certain that most people in
this gathering, particularly the Vice-President Mr. Pasanisi, will be
disappointed if I concluded my remarks without saying something about hunting.
But,
before I do so, I would like to make an admission: I am a conservationist at
heart. I am one of your own. I love nature. Because I believe all of us are
made of nature and we are sustained by it. In this regard, conservation of
nature including flora and fauna is for our own good.
However, my love for nature
does not entail denial of others to consume the products of nature, including hunting
wildlife. But I support responsible hunting that takes into account the
cardinal tenets of wildlife conservation.
We will therefore continue to
allow responsible hunting that is ecologically-friendly and economically
sustainable.
I am delighted to learn that
there is an increased consciousness within the hunting community for the
sustainability of the industry. The government stands ready to work with the
industry to ensure that that objective is realised.
Mr.
President;
I am also made to understand that
the hunting industry in our country has actively developed
people-private-public sector partnerships, through job creation, support to
development projects and development of entrepreneurship. As a result, most hunting firms and operators
have developed mutual trust at grassroots’ community levels.
This is crucial because, at the end
of the day, the benefits accruing to local communities in and around national
parks and game protected areas, will determine the extent to which poaching and
other destructive acts are mitigated.
If people benefit from conservation
or hunting, they become the best guardians against poaching and other forms of
destruction of wildlife and its habitat. If they don’t, they can easily become
part of the forces of destruction or apathetic to the destruction or simply a
people condoning such acts.
Mr.
President;
My government understands that sport
hunting is an international business, which requires building of trust and
confidence between the authorities, professional hunters, and safari operators. We will continue to support hunting.
We are proud that
There
are whispers that, as it stands today, it is not so easy for Tanzanians to
participate in the hunting industry. We
cannot ignore the whispers. We will try
to find better ways of involving them without displacing the others.
I believe both
nationals and non-nationals can participate and work smoothly and amicably in
this industry. I do not subscribe to
demagogic approach on this important matter.
Mr.
President, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen;
We are gathered here tonight to
synergise our efforts for a noble cause in wildlife conservation and
sustainable development.
It
is now my singular honour to humbly appeal and call upon each and every one in attendance to join hands with the Wildlife Conservation
Foundation of Tanzania in this noble endeavour. I would now like to kindly invite you to make
your donations.
I thank you all for your kind attention.