The young Royals have been impressively active in pushing for a dedicated wildlife crime unit, despite some critisism that that their own ancestors were known to hunt big game. Being a "get down and do it kind of man", Prince Harry is engaging in hands on anti-poaching operations in the Kruger National Park.
Catherine Bearder, Liberal Democrat MEP for the South East (UK) is very vocal as well, writing "The fight against wildlife-trafficking will not be easy. But future generations would not forgive us if we failed to put a stop to this despicable trade".
Even the Amerians are getting on board, but typically their altruisim appears to be suspect and their concerns seem to be motivated by the use of the illegal trade to raise funds for terror organisations.
Whatever the motivations are, the concept of Princes leading the way in proposing an EU based unit to fight poaching in Africa is not a new idea. In 1961, horrified by the slaughter of elephants and rhinos in newly independent African States and those countries engaged in civl war, the late Dr. Ian Player called for a Green Hemlet Brigade. In his biography Into the River of Life, Ian Player told Graham Linscott that he envisaged this brigade could "go into countries where law and order had broken down and national parks were overwhelmed and be stationed there until civil order was restored."
The Green Hemet Brigade never happened, but there was princely involvement in a similar operation in the late 1980s. John Hanks broke the silence on this ill-fated effort in his Operation Lock and the War on Rhino. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands funded and planned Operation Lock, a secret initiative staffed by exBritish SAS soldiers to stop rhino poaching in southern Africa. Based in Johannesburg, Operation Lock extended into the neighbouring states. When the project was unmasked, Prince Bernhard, denied any knowledge.
Operation Lock hired Kilo Alpha Services (KAS),a private security firm led by Lt. Col. Ian Crooke. He had been serving with the 23rd SAS Regiment which is composed of part-time and reserve officers.
Operation Lock, through the involvment of KAS, ended up being accused of various nefarious politcal activities and involvement in the fratricidal war in South Africa between the African National Congress and the Zulu Inkatha movement. As they were involved in the training of Zulu followers of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi's Inkatha, who were employed in several South African parks, the allegations were that they were using these trained men as a "Third Force" to bring about political confusion by pitting Zulu and ANC cadres against each other.
In August 1991, Zimbabwean Minister for National Security Sydney Sekerayami accused KAS of "being a cover for the destabilization of southern Africa." In 1993, his government's investigations determined that the 1992 Boipatong anti-Zulu massacre was carried out by the "Crowbar squad," a Namibian anti-poaching unit created and trained by KAS.
Possibly these allegations were correct but in any event it highlights the fact that any operation to police the continent of Africa needs the support of the leaders in those countries. Obtaining that support may be more difficult than it may appear at first glance. One only needs to look to the leadership of a country like Zimbabwe to find deep resistance to outside involvement.
The First Shots of the Rhino War
The first shots of the rhino war were fired in the Zimbabwean shoot to kill policy in early 1980s. At the time Robert Mugabe was still being hailed as the saviour of Africa and busy being feted at tea parties in Buckingham Palace. The white Zimbabwean farmers had not yet been forced off their land and the country was booming. The war had ended and closed border posts had re-opened.
The end of the war in Zimbabwe brought to an end hostility with neighbouring countries. It brought to an end the armed forces on the ground in wilderness areas and it opened up the animal sanctuaries to poachers who needed to no longer fear being mistaken for armed insurgents.
I spoke to Frank Flowers, who at time was the Police Officer in Charge of Chirundu. His area covered the wildlife estates along the Zambezi River including Mana Pools. He explained that the cessation of hostilities had created the situation whereby Zambian nationals in particular were plundering the wildlife resources of the Zambesi.
"I know that at one time the Zambian Government was accused of officially sanctioning this poaching and they reacted very badly to these allegations," Frank said in a recent interview. "Led by the late Olly Coltman, Parks Warden of the area, we had formed a joint task force of Army, Parks and Police to attempt to stop the poaching. We tried very hard and we had a number of contacts with poachers, but overall it was a very disheartening experience."
He went on to explain that the heights of Chirundu over-looked the Zambian side of the river. "There were roads being bulldozed through the bush and large Russian trucks came in. Tented camps were set up. We could see crowds of locals assembling. Surely this kind of activity could not have gone unnoticed by the Zambian authorities?"
In an effort to gain some cross-border co-operation he invited his opposite number from the Zambian side to accompany him on an operation. "The Zambians had a different attitude to wildlife back then. He asked me why we were fighting the poachers and even went so far as to say we should be killing the animals because they are dangerous. I recall sitting in the evening, listening to gun shots. In the morning we deployed a patrol down the river. All we found were the bones of the elephants shot that night. All along the area we could see where the flotilla of canoes had crossed from the Zambian side, hacked away the meat and the tusks to transport back across the river. I have to say I was disappointed in the Zambian Police attitude. But some good came of it. On the way back up river in the Police boat, the poachers opened fire on us. That got his attention!"
Within days of the shooting incident Frank reported that the local Police on the Zambian side had deployed their Mobile Unit into the area. They thumped heads and burnt down huts, one assumes in retaliation for the shooting incident and not a sudden and radical change of heart about the welfare of elephants and rhinos.
"For a while, the poaching was becoming controllable," but, shaking his head sadly - Frank said, "the corruption of politics prevented any real long-lasting impact on it. We were prevented from prosecuting some people because they were apparently asscoiated to, or members of the ruling party. It does not surprise me in the least that Rory Young, the conservationist who is training locals in anti-poaching techniques recently had to flee Zimbabwe following threats from the Zimbabwean CIO operatives. He says that secret service agents were involved in poaching and trafficking of wild animals and he is probably correct in that assertion."
Frank went on to serve as a Senior Ranger in the Natal Parks Board in South Africa. "Because of my police and parks experience with anti-poaching activites, I admire the young Royals attempts to really make a difference. Getting their message out is much easier in these days of social media and instant communications but I foresee huge obstacles in overcoming all the fiefdoms and politics of Africa as a whole.
New Approach - old ideas.
Ian Player and Operation Lock did not have the advantage of instant social media. They were attempting to do something in a world that really did not care enough about some dead elephants and rhinos in the back end of Africa. In addition to this they were fighting agains an uninformed local population. Even South Africa had their share of farmers and hunters who felt conservation activities interferred in their divine right to hunt and kill and tame the land.
The war aginst poaching really is a war. Talking to the Daily Mail about Prince Harry's anti-poaching efforts in the Kruger South African, conservationist Peter Chadwick said: 'This is counter-insurgency, an actual war that they are fighting."
In order to fight a war, there needs to be massive support for the war and there needs to be unwavering support from staunch allies. The young Royals and social media guarantee the support. The unwavering allies are less certain. We can only hope for the success of a new approach to a Green Helmet Brigade if the governments of Africa are unwavering in their political maturity.
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