Determined to TRANSFORM ZimParks
Extracts from an interview with Fulton Mangwanya, Director General of the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority by Catherine E. Semcer
Catherine Semcer recently sat down with Director General Mangwanya to discuss the successes and challenges during his tenure with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority as well as how his non-traditional education in international relations and politics prepared him to lead Zimbabwe's conservation efforts.
Q How has the education and experience that you acquired prepared you in your capacity as DG to tackle the challenges that come with managing a parastatal as complex as ZimParks?
A My career goal is to contribute to the national developmental agenda in the conservation industry through security enhancement for wildlife resource protection, human capital development, and catalysing improvements on cooperative governance issues affecting management of public enterprises, particularly the Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, which envisions to become the world leader in sustainable conservation practices.
In the early years of my career path, I had a dream of becoming a commercial farmer and enrolled at Chibero College of Agriculture in 1986 to study the basics of Agribusiness. However, that career in Agriculture was short-lived when I grasped the opportunity to serve in the President's Department in 1988, where I served seven different stations with distinction, handling various portfolios and rising through ranks of leadership positions.
“CITES should relax restrictions on the international trade of all wildlife from Zimbabwe to the rest of the world.”
I completed a BSc Honours Degree in Politics and Administration in 2004 at the University of Zimbabwe and scored many achievements when I became Head of the Serious Crimes Division, which deals with Drug Trafficking and Narcotics, Human Trafficking, Arms Trafficking, as well as Illegal Wildlife Trade and Wildlife Transnational Poaching Issues involving the use of various weapons that are used to slay Zimbabwe's wildlife heritage.
The exposure from working with various countries to tackle transnational crimes motivated me to consider sharpening my academic prowess with an MSc in International Relations that I completed in 2013 at the University of Zimbabwe. I was appointed Chairperson of the State Security Sub-committee for Southern African Development Community training programme where I facilitated national security training seminars in various countries. During the 2015-2016 period, I served with distinction in
