MACOSSA: The “new headquarters” of poaching in Mozambique

As first appeared in Integrity Magazine, in Mozambique, here. Written by Omardine Omar.

March 27 2023

Investigations find district police involvement in poaching syndicates

Elephant are the main targets for poaching, with other smaller species being hunted and sold as bushmeat at local markets.

Image by Sam Bayle.

In recent years, the District of Macossa, located in northeast Mozambique 267 kilometres from the provincial capital, Chimoio, has become the epicentre of poaching and rampant slaughter of precious tree species.

The activities, as Integrity Magazine found out, involve various individuals at the district level and higher, mainly the Police Officers of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM). This report comes after the 2020 scandal involving the then District Commander of the PRM, who was initially accused of the crime of poaching, but later ended up being convicted of passive corruption.  He was sentenced to six years in prison and one year of fine, which would be replaced by a fine, stipulated at 45 thousand meticais, along with three other PRM Agents.  

In April 2021, behold, a new local actor of the corporation entered the scene in Macossa – the Chief of District Operations of the PRM. 

Investigations in Manica, specifically in Macossa, found that the situation of poaching in the Coutadas (communal grazing areas) is alarming. 

According to a wildlife inspector from the Official Coutada de Macossa, who, for fear of reprisals and persecution, requested anonymity, the situation of “theft in Macossa is worrying, because the crime involves the district’s seniors, who enlist young people with a lack of understanding about the value of animal conservation.”

“We did everything to combat the problem. Unfortunately, whenever we neutralise some poachers, when they reach the Police, strangely enough, they are released and no one clarifies the matter,” said the source.

“There are poachers for different species of animals in the Coutadas and the existing safari areas,” they added. 

“Generally, in these rainy seasons, when you see a lot of grass, it has been calm, but during dry spells, it is really a serious case, and there are people of weight connected with it. Small fish are used as shells. There are people here who live by poaching,” said Bernardo André, an environmental activist born in Macossa and currently residing in Chimoio. 

Regarding the involvement of PRM Agents, André advanced that it is “very normal that they are involved, since they are the ones in charge of these matters in the district – including other leaders with jurisdiction to combat poaching, illegal exploitation of wood and, mainly, the illicit exploitation and smuggling of gold.”

For Marcos Junqueiro, resident of Vila de Macossa, what is most abundant in the district and is at the centre of attention of youth and other important figures is poaching and illegal logging. The elephant has been the biggest target, justified by its more or less permanent contact with the farmers working their fields. 

“For example, in 2022, in Sussundenga District, a few individuals were arrested for possession of elephant ivory, allegedly coming from the new Chimanimani National Park. But, from the diligence carried out, it was verified that some were residents of Macossa.”

However, an authorised source from Coutada 1, who asked not to be referenced in our investigation, explained that there are several organised crime syndicates profiting from poaching. They illegally hunt different wildlife species, which are destined to be sold as meat, while others such as elephants, become trophies. Due to the constant incursions into the Coutadas, animals such as the lion have been forced to move to other conservation areas, leaving the places filled with wild boar, buffalo and other animals that do not escape the fury of poachers.

On poaching, Integrity tried to get an official comment from the relevant government authorities, but without success. However, a source from the PRM, with whom we interacted, due to the sensitivity of the matter, preferred not to make many comments. 

Even so, he recognized the involvement of certain corporation colleagues in the district and revealed that, a few days ago, a Chief of Operations of the PRM, whose name, unfortunately, was not revealed to us, was one of the figures involved in this type of crime, who had been caught in the middle of a stealth raid.

Now, perhaps, due to its geographical location and the poor quality of the road, combined with an extensive forest and woods, in Macossa, cases of poaching continue to have no repercussions at the level of the country's central authorities. This inaction has led poachers to behave as though they are above Mozambique’s Forest and Wildlife Law.

At the level of Manica, our research revealed that there are no Civil Society Organisations or Non-Governmental Organisations working to raise awareness and combat poaching, as is the case in Magude, Moamba, Matutuíne (Maputo Province) and Massingir , Mapai, Chicualacuala and Limpopo (Gaza Province), critical locations in terms of the crime. 

This, therefore, led organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), through a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to develop the Kheta, which has contributed positively to changing the awareness of communities, as assured by Marcelino Foloma, program manager at WWF-Mozambique.

“We are working with communities, with people who, in the past, lived by poaching. We take the message to communities, children in schools, that is why, today, everyone says “zero poaching” (…),” said Foloma, on the sidelines of a recent event held in the District of Magude.

In recent years, several people, both national and foreign citizens, have been arrested, detained, tried and convicted for their participation in wildlife crimes. For example, last February, a 32-year-old Vietnamese citizen named Trang Kiu Trang was sentenced by the Judicial Court of Maputo City (TJCM) to a sentence of 16 years in prison, after having been found in November 2020, at Maputo International Airport, in possession of five rhinoceros horns, 162 units of teeth and lion claws, in an operation led by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), PRM, National Criminal Investigation Service ( SERNIC) and other national forces.

In Mozambique, wildlife crimes are punished with 12 to 16 years imprisonment, according to the law. In 2021 the then commander of Macossa was tried by the Judge of the District Court of Báruè, who condemned him to a sentence of six years in prison and a fine of one year, and all crimes were converted into a fine of 45 thousand meticais. Poaching crimes, according to the law and ANAC, should not be judged in a district court, but in a provincial court, which did not happen in 2021.

This article is reproduced here as part of the African Conservation Journalism Programme, funded in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe by USAID’s VukaNow: Activity. Implemented by the international conservation organisation Space for Giants, it aims to expand the reach of conservation and environmental journalism in Africa, and bring more African voices into the international conservation debate. Written articles from the Mozambican and Angolan cohorts are translated from Portuguese. Broadcast stories remain in the original language.