USDA Ethics vs KAZA TFCA

This interactive mobile app provides USDA employees – and other Federal government employees – with short easy-to-read summaries of the Federal ethics rules and the Hatch Act's limitations on political activity. This information is available, at your fingertips, in a well-organized Ethics Library. The app also includes a series of ten short videos in a comprehensive Ethics Video Library, so that employees can quickly become more aware about these important rules, anytime, whether in the office, off-site, or on official travel. The app contains a handy Resources sections for USDA employees to be able to readily contact an Ethics advisor at the USDA Office of Ethics. IMPORTANT NOTICE: Since ethics determinations are often fact-specific, employees are strongly encouraged to contact their respective agency Ethics Advisors with any ethics questions. The app is a useful tool to raise awareness, but is not a substitute for the individual advice provided by an experienced Ethics Advisor.

Within Southern Africa, the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA; http://www.kavangozambezi.org/en/) hosts some of the richest and most biodiverse forests in the world. KAZA was established in 2006, with a vision “to establish a world-class transfrontier conservation and tourism destination area in the Okavango and Zambezi River Basin regions of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, within the context of sustainable development.” The KAZA TFCA spans an area of 519, 912km²; includes 36 formally proclaimed national parks, game reserves, forest reserves, and game/wildlife management areas; and, vast areas outside of protected areas. In recent years, the globally significant natural resources in the KAZA landscape have been targeted for illegal poaching, harvest, and trafficking. The USFS Office of International Programs is leading the coordination of several projects focusing on KAZA, including the development of a Rapid reference timber permit guide in the form of a mobile app, for use by the interdisciplinary law enforcement community, including NGOs. The guide will include both within-country and international permits for the five KAZA member states (Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe), as well as covering the full range of harvest, phytosanitary, transport, export, and CITES permits.