20 February 2021
In response to an investigative report published by “Holm Akhdar,” which documented illegal hunting and a rise in poaching of endangered animals in the Shabwah governorate of south-central Yemen, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) in Shabwah has issued an official directive imposed a ban on hunting wild animals.
The directive prohibits the hunting of rare animals throughout the governorate and imposes strict measures against those who harm wildlife.
On Tuesday, 15 December 2020, Holm Akhdar had published a report supported by documents, images, information, and facts. This report revealed 65 documented cases of poaching of rare animals in Yemen between 2011 and the end of 2020. Of these, 34 documented killings of rare animals occurred in Shabwah within a seven-month period in 2020.
A Swift response
Although environmental issues in Yemen receive less coverage than political and social issues, this investigation achieved a swift response, gaining the recognition of public authorities and the local and international press. By the next day, the report had caught the attention of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Shabwah, which re-posted the article onto their Facebook page. Then, in response to the report, the Director General of the EPA in Shabwah, Muhammad Mujawar, issued an official memorandum banning the hunting of rare species in all regions of Shabwah.
In an official statement distributed on Wednesday, 16 December 2020, the EPA confirmed that ‘cooperation has been established between the local authority leadership and the security services in the governorate to implement strict measures against all individuals who tamper with wildlife in Shabwah’.
The Shabwah EPA’s directive urged all citizens to cooperate and report any activities harming wildlife, in order to preserve the rare biodiversity for which the governorate is renowned.
The EPA’s memorandum also mentioned that the environmental authorities will receive reports, complaints, or suggestions via text message or WhatsApp at the following numbers: (771611836 – 777356646), They assured that ‘all sources of information will be kept confidential’.
Yemen: War on Animals amid the Civil War
This special investigation, from #HolmAkhdar reveals that 34 documented murders of rare animals occurred during the year 2020. also records the number of Arabian leopards poached over the past years in Yemen.https://t.co/DEpuB8zMwq— حلم أخضر Holm Akhdar (@holmakhdar) December 21, 2020
Widespread attention
A week later, the English version of the report ‘Yemen: War on Animals Amid the Civil War” attracted international attention from major news agencies, including the Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS) in England, the Netherlands-based investigative journalism outlet Bellingcat, French journalist Romain Molina, and the German news outlet Deutsche Welle (DW).
On social media, the Arab version was viewed nearly 130,000 times between Twitter and Facebook, gaining significant engagement across platforms.
Holm Akhdar produced the report in November, and published in December 2020 with support from an EJN grant and Internews’ Middle East and North Africa Program.
Photo: Official memorandum bans wildlife poaching by the EPA Shabwah, Yemen
Video: Poaching crimes rise in Yemen
