MIKE Focal Sites Selected in Eastern and Southern Africa
The MIKE focal sites that will be supported under the EU funded Cross Regional Wildlife Conservation in Eastern and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean project, which is being implemented in partnership with UNODC and the Convention on Migratory Species, have been finalized and implementation of sub-projects initiated.
Where possible this work builds on previous focal site partnerships established under the EU funded MIKES project, with additional considerations given to transboundary relations between connected MIKE sites where possible, and regional representation across eastern, southern and the horn of Africa regions.
The sites that will be supported are:
• Mana Pools, Sapi and Chewore MIKE sites, Zimbabwe
• Lower Zambezi National Park, Zambia
• Niassa National Reserve, Mozambique
• Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania
• Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda
• Tsavo West National Park, Kenya
• Kwando Wildlife Dispersal Area (Angola, Namibia, and Zambia)
• Kafta Sheraro National Park, Ethiopia
Sub-projects have been developed to address law enforcement capacity needs identified at each site using the MIKE law enforcement capacity assessment. Based on the outcomes of this assessment process, project objectives and activities were defined, along with an associated budget, to address the specific needs of each site. The support will be provided over three to four years.
A whole range of activities are supported in the different sites, but typical activities are focused on providing ranger training and field equipment, addressing issues relating to communication and transportation in the areas. In some cases, support is also being provided for the construction of new ranger posts and operations control rooms.
The nature of this funding allocation means that only focal sites in Eastern and Southern Africa can be supported, however, additional EU funding (under the MIKES+ project) has been secured to support additional MIKE focal sites across central and west Africa.