South Africa is to intensify its anti-poaching strategy. (Image: WWF UK) MEDIA CONTACTS Albi ModiseDept of Environmental Affairs spokesperson+27 83 490 2871 or +27 12 310 3122RELATED ARTICLES • Rescuing the white rhino • South Africa’s national parks • Kruger Park booked out for 2010 • Rhinos return to Uganda• Free entry into SA national parksJanine ErasmusWater and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica has announced the formation of a new special investigations team dedicated to the eradication of rhino poaching. This will help safeguard one of South Africa’s most enduring tourist attractions, its wildlife.The initiative could not have come sooner. Horrifying statistics show that since January 2009 84 rhino have been killed by poachers in provinces across South Africa. A breakdown reveals that the world-famous Kruger National Park is the country’s poaching hotspot, with KwaZulu-Natal’s rhino-rich nature reserves not far behind.The current poaching statistics are as follows:Kruger National Park: 33Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife: 19Gauteng: 3North West: 5Limpopo: 7Eastern Cape: 1Mpumalanga: 16Sonjica made the announcement at a September 2009 meeting between herself, deputy environment minister Rejoice Mabudafhasi and various members of the executive council (MEC) from the provinces. The meeting was held to discuss new strategies to fight the recent spate of rhino deaths.The new unit is expected to tackle not only poaching, but other high-priority and organised environmental and conservation crimes. It forms part of an integrated anti-poaching strategy in which the Department of Environmental Affairs is working closely with all provinces where rhino are found.Experts hope that the unit will function in much the same way as the former Endangered Species Protection Unit of the South African Police Service. From 1989 until its disbandment in 2003 this elite unit was responsible for wildlife crime investigation and notched up great successes in its fight against international trade in endangered species.Coordinated effortsDuring the meeting the delegates discussed ways of supporting the anti-poaching initiatives of various conservation authorities around the country.The national parks authority, South African National Parks (Sanparks), is to lead a task team of conservation agencies from all provinces, with the aim of coordinating their efforts.Earlier in the year, as part of the integrated strategy, the Department of Environmental Affairs established a national biodiversity investigators’ forum in its Biodiversity and Conservation branch.This initiative enables the coordination of biodiversity-related law enforcement work, such as the efforts to stamp out rhino poaching, and will help authorities enforce national environmental legislation.War against poachingWhile poaching is still rife, the ongoing war against poachers is proving fruitful. Sanparks recently announced that it would channel US$260 000 (R2-million) from the Parks Development Fund into providing an additional 57 game rangers in the Kruger Park and equipping them with motorbikes, enabling them to cover their patrol areas more efficiently.The funds will also provide for the installation of a hi-tech crime information management system. Sanparks hopes that these new developments will give it the edge over would-be poachers.A further blow to criminal activities is the return of the South African military to patrol the vulnerable 450km national border between South Africa and Mozambique, in the east of the park. Military patrols along the border stopped three years ago.All 33 poached rhinos in the Kruger Park were killed along the eastern border, said Sanparks.“We intend to increase our efforts even more in ensuring that this scourge is routed out,” said Sanparks CEO David Mabunda. “Discussions have been started with Mozambican authorities to solicit their assistance in apprehending suspects and preventing illegal activities from proliferating on their side of the fence.”During 2009 at least 14 poachers, all of Mozambican origin, have been arrested and several illegal firearms seized in the Kruger Park. Altogether, 22 poachers around South Africa have been taken into custody since the beginning of 2009.In KwaZulu-Natal, which has also seen a surge in the number of rhino deaths, several suspects have been arrested in recent months. By late September 2009 the province had lost 19 rhino to poachers, 15 in areas managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife – formerly known as the Natal Parks Board – and four in private reserves.In January 2009 police and wildlife authorities cracked an international rhino-smuggling ring and arrested 11 people of South African, Chinese and Mozambican origin.Zero toleranceA report released in July 2009 by the World Wide Fund for Nature, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic, says that illegal international trade in rhino horns is almost at a 15-year high.But South Africa is sending out a stern warning that it will not tolerate this unlawful trade: “Poachers must beware, because we will seek them out, we will find them and they will be dealt with. This is a war that we plan on winning,” Mabunda said.Queries or comments? Contact Janine Erasmus at email@example.com.
Sign up for a free trial and get instant access to this article as well as GBA’s complete library of premium articles and construction details. This article is only available to GBA Prime Members Start Free Trial Already a member? Log in My comprehensive article on residential ventilation systems, “Designing a Good Ventilation System,” was published back in 2009. A few things have changed in the last eight years, so it’s time to revisit the topic. Code requirements Most building scientists aren’t willing to provide a simple answer to the question, “At what point is a home so tight that the home requires a mechanical ventilation system?” A typical answer is, “It depends — but unless your house is very leaky, it’s better to err on the side of caution and install a mechanical ventilation system.”Building codes aren’t so vague, however. According to the 2012 and 2015 versions of the International Residential Code (IRC), any new home with a blower-door test result of less than 5.0 ach50 is required to have a whole-house ventilation system. This code requirement can be found in Chapter 3, section R303.4, and in Chapter 15, section M1507.1 of the IRC.Since the new IRC code requires homes in all zones except Zones 1 and 2 to achieve an airtightness result of no more than 3 ach50, the code effectively mandates a whole-house mechanical ventilation system for homes in Zones 3 through 8. If you live in Zones 1 or 2, and if your blower door test came in at less than 5.0 ach50, your home is also required to have a whole house ventilation system.The bottom line: If you’re getting your advice from GBA, you’ll be building a tight house — so your house needs a mechanical ventilation system.The building code is vague concerning the details of a mechanical ventilation system; it doesn’t really tell builders what type of equipment is needed to comply with the code. The code is specific, however, about ventilation rates. Here are the minimum airflow… read more
The heart of growing your revenue is opportunity acquisition. More opportunities equals more sales (provided you win at the same rate and the average deal size is the same). But some sales organizations (and some salespeople) fail to acquire enough opportunities to grow.Failure to Acquire Opportunities from Existing ClientsSome sales organizations (and salespeople) don’t create enough opportunities from their existing client portfolio.These sales organizations do all of the work to acquire a client and then settle for a relatively low wallet share–even though they already have the relationships (or should), already have a contract, and already have some ideas as to how they might create more value for their clients. They stay focused on new client development, winning new clients only to half-win them, too.Never let it be said that I even hinted at the idea that you should slow down your efforts to hunt and to win new clients. But you also can’t easily grow if you don’t develop the clients you’ve already won, and that means working to acquire new opportunities from within those clients.Failure to Acquire Opportunities from New ClientsEven more sales organizations struggle to grow their revenue numbers because they believe that their existing clients can–and will–provide them with all of the opportunities they’ll ever need. But then they stall. Worse still, they lose a major client (or two), and all of sudden they find themselves in a tail spin.There is no way to win new clients and develop new opportunities fast enough to solve the problem of stalled or declining revenue once you start experiencing it. The time to have started hunting is long past by then. Even while you are developing existing clients, you have to keep your foot on the pedal.GrowthGrowing your revenue number is never really easy. But the recipe calls for acquiring new opportunities from within your existing clients while at the same time winning new clients. Focusing on only one at the expense of the other is the cause of stalled–or declining–revenue numbers.QuestionsDo you spend more time farming opportunities within your existing clients or hunting outside?Is your wallet share such that you can confidently say that you have all of the opportunities that you should have from within your client portfolio?How many new clients do you have to win to acquire enough opportunities to hit your revenue targets?Are you neglecting one source of new opportunities? Are you neglecting both? Essential Reading! Get my 3rd book: Eat Their Lunch “The first ever playbook for B2B salespeople on how to win clients and customers who are already being serviced by your competition.” Buy Now read more