Broad alliance to fight poaching
// Africa and Asia
// Europe
// Grenada/Caribbean
Combating poaching
| They die so that people can have lux-
ury goods, enhance fertility and make money. More than
100,000 elephants and over 3,300 rhinoceri have been killed
by poachers in southern Africa alone since 2011, according
to official figures. The true figure is thought to be very much
higher. Countries that have protected areas and large wild-
life populations, like Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and South
Africa, are affected. The illegal trade in wildlife products is
booming. According to some estimates, in 10 to 15 years
there will be no elephants or rhinoceri living in the wild if
the killing continues unabated.
To counter the loss of threatened species, BMZ com-
missioned GIZ in 2013 to coordinate a global, inter-ministe-
rial initiative to fight poaching and the illegal trade in wild-
life products. A total of EUR 3.2 million has been made
available. The German Federal Environment Ministry, the
Federal Finance Ministry, the Federal Interior Ministry and
the Federal Foreign Office are all involved. GIZ is responsi-
ble for improving the coordination of the activities under-
taken by the various ministries and ongoing protection proj-
ects in partner countries.
The demand for ivory and rhino horn has rocketed,
especially in China and Viet Nam, with the increase in the
number of affluent consumers. GIZ is working all the way
along the illegal trade chain: both on the supply side in
Africa and on the demand side in Asia. A broad alliance has
been formed for this purpose, embracing the World Wide
Fund for Nature, the Frankfurt Zoological Society and
Traffic, a network dedicated to fighting the illegal trade in
wildlife products, as well as a large number of non-govern-
mental organisations in the countries concerned.
GIZ is providing special training for game wardens
as well as better equipment. To put an end to the trade,
cooperation with the police, customs and judiciary in the
affected African and Asian states is being stepped up, and
the flow of information among participants improved. It is
also important to stem demand on the Asian side. Many
governments have already launched education campaigns
and now impose stricter penalties on smugglers, poachers
and traders. But poverty and corruption are powerful oppo-
nents: as long as the tusk of a fully grown Kenyan elephant
can be sold for as much as an unskilled worker stands to
earn in 15 years, the temptation to poach remains huge.
//
Bioenergy
| Gas, oil and lignite are widely used in Eastern
Europe. The efficient generation of power using woody bio-
mass, however, is still in their infancy. Not so in Germany:
Bavaria in particular is an international trailblazer in the field
of bioenergy. The European Union has provided EUR 1.9
million under its Horizon 2020 research and innovation
programme for a project focusing on generating energy from
woody biomass. This is affiliated to the BMZ’s DKTI pro-
gramme, which aims to develop a sustainable bioenergy
market in Serbia. Regional timber supply chains are to be
established in Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria. Transnational
knowledge sharing is not the only important element. In
order to foster demand, several new regional biomass centres
are being established. They will be responsible for marketing
and for supplying clients with woody biomass in the form of
fuelwood, pellets and wood chips. Along with eight other
partners GIZ is supporting these businesses in conducting
market studies, drawing up business plans, finding investors,
bringing together producers and potential customers and
introducing the general public to bioenergy.
//
Adaptation to climate change
| Ninety per cent of all houses
in Grenada were damaged or completely destroyed by Hur-
ricane Ivan in 2004. Most of the country’s farmland was
also destroyed. Climate change and its impacts – tropical
storms with torrential rainfall and increasingly persistent
droughts – are jeopardising the natural resource base and
hence livelihoods in the tri-island state of Grenada. A pilot
programme commissioned by the German Federal Environ-
ment Ministry under the International Climate Initiative is
breaking new ground: rather than taking a series of isolated
measures to help the country adapt to climate change, GIZ
is working with the Grenadian Government and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to ensure that
Grenada’s people and ecosystems are better equipped to deal
with the consequences of climate change. GIZ is advising
the National Climate Change Committee on how to sys-
tematically integrate climate checks into national planning
processes. Vulnerable coastal regions are also being protected
with the help of better planning, and training courses pro-
vided in climate-sensitive agriculture. A dedicated fund is
helping communities directly affected by climate change to
make their houses safer and protect their fields from erosion.
GIZ is also helping Grenada access Green Climate Fund
finance so that it can implement more adaptation measures
in future.
//
Clean energy for the Danube region
Reducing
vulnerability
01
Contact:
klemens.riha@giz.deContact:
stefan.essel@giz.deContact:
dieter.rothenberger@giz.de//
www.giz.de/en/worldwide/27030.htmlGIZ Integrated Company Report 2014
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Protecting the environment and natural resources