Africa-Press – Mozambique. Cheringoma District Court in Sofala has given 14 individuals sentences ranging from four to six years in prison for committing environmental crimes in the Gorongosa National Park buffer zone.
The offenders engaged in illegal logging and killing of animals, including elephants, buffalo, lions and pangolins.
Judge-President César Tite said that the defendants were all members of the local community, and had used firearms and mechanical traps.
“Communities must be made aware that hunting is prohibited. Not only that: it is necessary to encourage another form of income, of earning a living. The district of Cheringoma is practically in the middle of game reserves [coutadas] and has private game farms [fazendas de bravio]. So these communities need to be removed and resettled in places where they don’t find themselves in conflict with the law,” he said.
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