Africa-Press – Mozambique. The number of environmental crime cases opened in Mozambique has risen by 44.4% to 845 in the last 12 months, said the Minister of Land and Environment, Ivete Maibaze, this Tuesday.
Maibaze was speaking during the inauguration of the Joint Operational Centre against Poaching, in Magude district, Maputo province, in the south of the country.
Maibaze said that most of the environmental crimes committed between July 2021 and July 2022 involved illegal research and exploitation of mineral resources, with 239 criminal cases opened, and poaching, with 179.
The province of Niassa, in the north of the country, recorded the highest number of cases, with 178, followed by Sofala, in the centre, with 164 and Cabo Delgado, in the north, with 123.
The northern province of Nampula had the lowest number of criminal cases, with six, followed by Maputo province, with 16, and the city of Maputo, with 17.
Between 2017 and 2022, 51 poachers were sentenced to prison terms of between four and 30 years in Mozambique, according to data made available on the occasion.
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