Menongue, Angola, 4 June 2016 - UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner today cut the ribbon on a new school for wildlife rangers in Angola, which will turn former combatants into "soldiers of nature".
Mr. Steiner is in Angola for celebrations of World Environment Day, hosted by the southern African nation as they put in place strong new measures to combat the illegal trade in wildlife.
"Training is an important part of development, and it is heartening to see so many men and women here today preparing to dedicate their lives to fighting the illegal trade in wildlife," he said at the opening.
Dozens of new recruits paraded at the school in front of Mr. Steiner and Maria de Fatima Jardim, Angola's Environment Minister. Based on the outskirts of Menongue, in the south-eastern Cuando-Cubango province, the school is the largest in Angola and the first in the area.
Many of the trainee rangers took part in Angola's long civil war, which ended in 2002. Former soldiers from both sides of the divide will turn their skills to tracking and arresting poachers in the province - where the government is seeking to preserve biodiversity and attract international tourists to help diversify Angola's economy.
"We are training former soldiers to protect nature, in order to preserve our biodiversity - so that in the future we can manage what nature has provided for us," said Elias Zeca Kawina, the head of the school.
The opening of the school, which can train up to 500 rangers at a time, is part of wider efforts to end the illegal trade in wildlife, particularly ivory and bushmeat.
Angola is both a source and transit country for ivory, with carved ivory coming over the borders from the Democratic Republic of Congo and being sold on, largely to Asian nations.
Angola is introducing tougher penalties for poaching, shutting down its domestic illegal markets, and looking to provide alternative livelihoods for those at the bottom of the chain.
The school was opened on the day a new UNEP-INTERPOL report revealed the scale of environmental crimes across the globe. The report found that transnational criminal networks are profiting to the tune of up to $258 billion per year - a 26 per cent on previous estimates.
For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact: Michael Logan (Angola), UNEP News and Media, Tel. +244 945 018 051, Email: Michael.Logan@unep.org Miles Amoore (Nairobi), UNEP News and Media, Tel. +254 718 766 211, Email: miles.amoore@unep.org UNEP Newsdesk (Nairobi), Tel. +254 715 876 185, Email: unepnewsdesk@unep.org
