Adam Clements Interview.

Adam Clements, born and raised in Tanzania, is a director of Adam Clements Safari Trackers Inc. In this interview with Safari Newsreel he gives us his take on the poaching situation in Tanzania.

I believe that the Tanzanian government should step up and have more anti-poaching units that actually work, but it will never be able to be as effective as private companies conducting anti-poaching in their on areas. I cannot speak for other companies and most other companies do not do any anti-poaching at all.

There are only a handful of companies in Tanzania who take their areas seriously and want to manage them strictly and have their own anti-poaching units. As for us in particular we have our own anti-poaching vehicles and teams that patrol our areas. Once people know that there is a full time team 24/7 patrolling the area they will think twice before poaching in our area and would rather go to another area that does not have any strict patrols.

I personally think that the Tanzanian government should look at companies with their own poaching units to be a bonus and be willing to work more closely with us. We are already providing the vehicle and staff and funds to have a vehicle in each of our areas, which does not cost the government anything. The government should take this opportunity and instead of trying to do things on their own (which they can not afford to do) they should join in the effort. It would be cheaper and more prudent for them to assign us or any other company full time rangers to put in each vehicle so that each anti-poaching vehicle would have arrest power and be able to be more serious. This would save the government money by not having to use their vehicles and would be more productive.

If we rely on government anti-poaching to patrol our areas, poaching will get out of hand as they would never be 24/7 in the areas. Even as of now if we need to get a government anti-poaching unit we have to call their office in Arusha and we can never tell when they might show up.

It is very easy to understand that the government anti-poaching does not have anything at stake in any area and would never look after it as much as the private company would. Government anti-poaching teams would rather spend their time in town than be in the bush 24/7.

I do not believe that government anti-poaching could be as proficient as private companies in any way. What we need is for the government to work with us and instead of trying to control funds and operate their own vehicles etc. They should supply each company willing to pay the cost for their own anti-poaching a government ranger so that our private teams can get more serious and have arrest power. The government will never be able to patrol every area in Tanzania, so why not work with private companies who are willing to pay the extra costs to look after their areas.

This way it benefits everyone including the wildlife. Have a presence with anti-poaching vehicles is the main prevention, and the problem is that the government could never be able to show presence in every area. They should help private companies in anyway they can and offer incentives to those who want to manage their areas strictly.

I do have to say that in all of Tanzania, the Selous Game Reserve does have the best anti-poaching in the country, but again it is never a full presence and you have to call them if you want your area to be patrolled. Tanzania needs to realize that they need to work with private companies and take advantage of working together to solve much bigger issues.