TANZANIA Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA) has called for applications from interested individuals with the intention of opening butcheries to sell bush meat.
The call was made by the Commissioner for Conservation in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, James Wakibara, during a press conference in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday.
According to Dr Wakibara, the bush meat trade will not only boost people’s incomes, but also deter poaching activities in protected areas.
“The government wants Tanzanians to use this resource to generate income. We are now inviting people, investors and all interested parties who wish to open bush meat butcheries to send their applications in order to get permission to conduct the business in accordance with guidelines on the sale and harvesting of bush meat,” Dr Wakibara said.
He said all applicants should be qualified and abide by all rules and regulations.
“We want to implement the fifth phase government’s agenda of industrialisation. President Magufuli recently stressed the importance of the publics to participate directly in various activities related to wildlife resources by investing in the wildlife sector, the move that would help to boost income, food and development of the nation,” he noted.
The commissioner called on potential investors to use the opportunity that will generate incomes and facilitate the county’s development.
Last week, Tourism and Natural Resources Minister Dr Hamisi Kigwangalla said the government had endorsed the establishment of special butcheries specifically for bushmeat.
He said the move was aimed at enabling Tanzanians to harvest wild animals for selling and consumption.
He explained that Tanzanians who wished to open such butcheries would be given special licences to run their businesses while the harvesting of game meat would only be done by professional hunters.
Two years ago, Tanzania lifted a ban on hunting that had been imposed in October 2015 following abuse and misuse of hunting permits.
The move heralded the first-ever online auctioning of 24 hunting blocks which kicked off last November
