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Broad alliance to fight poaching

// Africa and Asia

// Europe

// Grenada/Caribbean

Combating poaching

| They die so that people can have lux-

ury goods, enhance fertility and make money. More than

100,000 elephants and over 3,300 rhinoceri have been killed

by poachers in southern Africa alone since 2011, according

to official figures. The true figure is thought to be very much

higher. Countries that have protected areas and large wild-

life populations, like Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and South

Africa, are affected. The illegal trade in wildlife products is

booming. According to some estimates, in 10 to 15 years

there will be no elephants or rhinoceri living in the wild if

the killing continues unabated.

To counter the loss of threatened species, BMZ com-

missioned GIZ in 2013 to coordinate a global, inter-ministe-

rial initiative to fight poaching and the illegal trade in wild-

life products. A total of EUR 3.2 million has been made

available. The German Federal Environment Ministry, the

Federal Finance Ministry, the Federal Interior Ministry and

the Federal Foreign Office are all involved. GIZ is responsi-

ble for improving the coordination of the activities under-

taken by the various ministries and ongoing protection proj-

ects in partner countries.

The demand for ivory and rhino horn has rocketed,

especially in China and Viet Nam, with the increase in the

number of affluent consumers. GIZ is working all the way

along the illegal trade chain: both on the supply side in

Africa and on the demand side in Asia. A broad alliance has

been formed for this purpose, embracing the World Wide

Fund for Nature, the Frankfurt Zoological Society and

Traffic, a network dedicated to fighting the illegal trade in

wildlife products, as well as a large number of non-govern-

mental organisations in the countries concerned.

GIZ is providing special training for game wardens

as well as better equipment. To put an end to the trade,

cooperation with the police, customs and judiciary in the

affected African and Asian states is being stepped up, and

the flow of information among participants improved. It is

also important to stem demand on the Asian side. Many

governments have already launched education campaigns

and now impose stricter penalties on smugglers, poachers

and traders. But poverty and corruption are powerful oppo-

nents: as long as the tusk of a fully grown Kenyan elephant

can be sold for as much as an unskilled worker stands to

earn in 15 years, the temptation to poach remains huge. 

//

Bioenergy

| Gas, oil and lignite are widely used in Eastern

Europe. The efficient generation of power using woody bio-

mass, however, is still in their infancy. Not so in Germany:

Bavaria in particular is an international trailblazer in the field

of bioenergy. The European Union has provided EUR 1.9

million under its Horizon 2020 research and innovation

programme for a project focusing on generating energy from

woody biomass. This is affiliated to the BMZ’s DKTI pro-

gramme, which aims to develop a sustainable bioenergy

market in Serbia. Regional timber supply chains are to be

established in Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria. Transnational

knowledge sharing is not the only important element. In

order to foster demand, several new regional biomass centres

are being established. They will be responsible for marketing

and for supplying clients with woody biomass in the form of

fuelwood, pellets and wood chips. Along with eight other

partners GIZ is supporting these businesses in conducting

market studies, drawing up business plans, finding investors,

bringing together producers and potential customers and

introducing the general public to bioenergy. 

//

Adaptation to climate change

| Ninety per cent of all houses

in Grenada were damaged or completely destroyed by Hur-

ricane Ivan in 2004. Most of the country’s farmland was

also destroyed. Climate change and its impacts – tropical

storms with torrential rainfall and increasingly persistent

droughts – are jeopardising the natural resource base and

hence livelihoods in the tri-island state of Grenada. A pilot

programme commissioned by the German Federal Environ-

ment Ministry under the International Climate Initiative is

breaking new ground: rather than taking a series of isolated

measures to help the country adapt to climate change, GIZ

is working with the Grenadian Government and the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to ensure that

Grenada’s people and ecosystems are better equipped to deal

with the consequences of climate change. GIZ is advising

the National Climate Change Committee on how to sys-

tematically integrate climate checks into national planning

processes. Vulnerable coastal regions are also being protected

with the help of better planning, and training courses pro-

vided in climate-sensitive agriculture. A dedicated fund is

helping communities directly affected by climate change to

make their houses safer and protect their fields from erosion.

GIZ is also helping Grenada access Green Climate Fund

finance so that it can implement more adaptation measures

in future. 

//

Clean energy for the Danube region

Reducing

vulnerability

01

Contact:

klemens.riha@giz.de

Contact:

stefan.essel@giz.de

Contact:

dieter.rothenberger@giz.de 

// 

www.giz.de/en/worldwide/27030.html

GIZ Integrated Company Report 2014

16

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Protecting the environment and natural resources