On a recent trip to the Malawi-Zambia (MAZA) Transfrontier Conservation Area, Peace Parks Foundation’s Project Systems and Compliance Manager, Stefan van Zyl, and Project Compliance Coordinator, Kelly Human, are visiting Nyika National Park as part of a law enforcement assessment. They also attend human rights and law enforcement training, which teaches the rangers new knowledge and skills on important topics such as standard operating procedures and codes of conduct. This will help guide both the moral and ethical expectations these rangers must adhere to when performing their duties.
Safety First in Law Enforcement
As part of their work, it is not uncommon for field rangers to find themselves in precarious situations while on patrol. They often have to deal with suspected poachers, dangerous wildlife or have to make house arrests. To ensure the rangers’ safety and protect the potential suspect’s human rights, it is critically important that they understand how to correctly and safely operate under these circumstances.
The team goes through various exercises where they track and arrest a suspect, making sure to adhere to the conduct set out in their human rights training. They also work on the stages of readiness when having to handle weapons and practice the correct procedures when conducting a legal house search.
This is particularly important to ensure that no human rights violations occur and that arrests made, and evidence gathered are done according to legal procedures that will secure convictions when relevant. Peace Parks Foundation and partners take great care to ensure that all field rangers understand these rules and procedures, which keeps everyone involved safe and effective.
Why Is This Important In MAZA?
The Malawi-Zambia Transfrontier Conservation Area is an incredibly biodiverse area that sits on the international border contiguous to protected areas in Malawi and Zambia. It comprises two main components: Nyika-North Luangwa in Malawi and Kasungu-Lukusuzi in the Central Zambezian Miombo Woodland Ecoregion.
As with many of Africa’s protected areas, communities live within the buffer zones of the national parks. For Peace Parks and partners to achieve their goals of biodiversity restoration through sustainable natural resource use, communities need to be included in the conservation dialogue and decisions. If the parks do well, so do the communities, as they also receive a portion of the income generated by these protected areas.
More prepared and skilled rangers on the ground will help the men and women charged with protecting nature to intervene appropriately when dealing with suspected poachers or illegal wildlife traffickers. Calmly handling these situations helps to increase the community’s support of these parks and stand both nature and the people who depend on it in better stead.
