Mozambique, as many other countries of the world, has seen significant incidences of cases of illegal trade in flora and fauna and cases of poaching of emblematic species, with some incidence for areas located in border areas, such as Niassa National Reserve. Thus, on 10th July the Ambassador of Japan, Toshio Ikeda, the ANAC General Director, Mateus Mutemba, the WCS Mozambique Country Director, James Bampton, and the NNR Warden, Baldeu Araquechande, participated in the inauguration of the Center for Surveillance and Protection of Wildlife of the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), in Maputo City.
To improve the performance of management programs in conservation areas the Government of Mozambique has been promoting initiatives for co-management partnerships in some national conservation areas. In this context, the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC) signed in 2014 an agreement with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) to support the management of the Niassa National Reserve and ensure the continuity of conservation programs for one of the largest natural ecosystems with unique ecological conditions that congregate a significant population of large wild animals with prominence for emblematic species such as elephant, lion, leopard, wild dog, zebra among other wildlife animals.
Since 2004 NNR has benefited from the support of the Government of Japan for the implementation of the Monitoring Program for Anti-Poaching of Elephants through a program called MIKE CITES (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) implemented in compliance with Resolution Conf. 10.10 of the CITES Convention and with the support of the CITES Secretariat. For this program, WCS also have the support of other partners, namely the European Union, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, United Kingdom and the China Popular Republic.
In recognition of the biodiversity conservation programs in the Niassa National Reserve, particularly in elephant protection, the CITES-MIKE Secretariat promoted exchanges between the Niassa National Reserve and the Government of Japan as part of efforts to support the infrastructure for the Law Enforcement Sector.
As a result of the CITES-MIKE Secretariat's initiative in 2018 at the International Conference about the Illegal Wildlife Trade in London, the Government of Japan announced the support for Niassa National Reserve to improve the response to wildlife crime.
The construction project for the Surveillance Center, funded by the Government of Japan, started in October 2018 and was completed in June of this year.
The Government of Japan has provided 6.7 million Metical for the building that covers an area of 111.72 m2 and includes a warehouse and strong house for placing ivory stocks and other products; Control room and operations; Strong house for war material; two spas.
That equipment provides to the NNR the capacity to wildlife monitoring and poaching control from high-tech equipment.
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