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Kuando Kubango will have a Reserve of African Austral elephants. StoryTRANSLATION The project, valued around six million Dollars, was presented yesterday in Luanda, by the responsible of these North American Organizations to the members of the Demining Inter sector National Commission and to the Government. The minefields are located in the partial Luiana Park Reserve (south east of the country), in an area formerly used by the elephants which migrated to the north of Botswana and to Zambia. Kuando Kubango will, due to the project’s implementation, benefit from a sustainable ecotourism development program, which will count with about 130 thousand elephants situated on the Austral region of the continent. The ecotourism program will assure the return and protection of the elephants and other wild animal species which left the country due to the war. These elephants, as per Heidi Kuhn, founder of the Roots and Peace Organization, are confined between the Kuando (Angola) and Zambeze (Zambia) Rivers, and it’s difficult for them to move freely into their original pastures, due to the landmine situation in Kuando Kubango. The intention of these organizations is to transform Angola, Zambia and Botswana into a world elephant reserve, restoring a save passage, for the animals, in these countries. The program will involve the implementation of agriculture programs for the population and the improvement of the local economy. The demining will be a conjunct action between the Government and Non Governmental Organizations which operate within the demining sector. An American NGO will sign agreements, with companies specialized in demining, directly and will work with US DoS staff. In October this year, as soon as the landmine assessment is concluded, the project should start to be implemented, which as per Leo Braak, member of the Conservation International, as already raised about one million Dollars. The project presentation ceremony, counted with the presence of the Angolan Hotel and Tourism Minister, Eduardo Chingundji, and with Roque de Oliveira, representing the Demining Inter Sector National Commission.
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