Zambezi EcoTourism

11/10/2024

(Zimbabwe, 25th September 2024). The Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls UNESCO World Heritage Listing places great emphasis on the protection of...

14/09/2024

There is enough space for elephants in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) - as long as safe migration between protected ecosystems is made possible.

* Background to Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)

A key objective of southern Africa’s Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area is to connect important ecosystems in the region, via ancient wildlife migration corridors, and to prevent human/wildlife conflict.

Connecting vast savannahs, grasslands, marshes, woodlands, saltpans and scrublands across parts of five nations, the 106-million-acre region known as KAZA lies within Africa’s Kavango and Zambezi river basins where Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe converge.

There are 18 Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) in the Southern African development Community (SADC) region.

They are in terrestrial and marine environments and are at various stages of development.

The KAZA TFCA was founded on the realisation that natural ecosystems in the KAZA region need to be connected via safe wildlife migration corridors - to allow seasonal dispersal of migrating species between protected areas.

About Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA)

KAZA TFCA, commonly known as KAZA, is the world’s largest Trans Frontier Conservstiin Area at approximately 520,000km².

The cornerstone of KAZA was laid on 7th December 2006 when the ministers responsible for environment, natural resources, wildlife and tourism in the Republics of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe signed a Memorandum of Understanding to work towards the establishment of the TFCA.

The Treaty formally establishing KAZA TFCA was signed in Luanda, Angola, in August 2011.

This set the stage for a regionally integrated approach towards harmonizing policies, strategies, and practices for managing the shared natural resources straddling the international borders of KAZA’s five Partner States.

This regional integration approach aims to derive equitable socio-economic benefits through the sustainable conservation and development of their natural and cultural heritage resources.

Occupying part of the Okavango and Zambezi river basins, KAZA encompasses areas within the borders of KAZA’s Partner States, the TFCA includes 36 formally proclaimed protected areas made up of a host of game reserves, forest reserves, game/wildlife management areas, and communal lands. Some of these protected areas have designated concessions for non-consumptive tourism development.

KAZA is endowed with a wide range of species diversity – flora and fauna.

There are more than 3,000 plant species throughout the TFCA, of which 100 are endemic to the sub-region.

KAZA also caters to large-scale migrations of megafauna, hosting the largest contiguous population of African elephant on the continent, making the African elephant a flagship species of the TFCA. KAZA is key conservation area for threatened species such as the lion, cheetah, and African wild dog, of which an estimated one quarter of the population is found in the TFCA.

Over 600 bird species have been identified, as well as 128 reptile species and 50 amphibian species.

Importantly, KAZA is home to renowned tourism destinations of the Southern African region including Chobe National Park, Hwange National Park, Kafue National Park, and the Makgadikgadi Pans.

The TFCA is also home to the Victoria Falls, a natural and cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site (mixed WHS), and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

KAZA harbors two additional mixed World Herotage Sites – the Okavango Delta, and Tsodilo Hills.

An estimated 2,5 to 3 million people live in KAZA across its five Partner States, mainly in rural areas.

Through cultural heritage tourism and employment opportunities presented by the tourism value chain, KAZA Partner States aim to enhance the participation of these rural communities in the tourism economy not only through their provision of tourism-related goods and services, but also through celebration and nourishment of the region’s rich cultural diversity.

This can be achievable through facilitating the sharing of age-old knowledge and traditions by rural communities across borders not only with each other, but with the world at large.

https://www.ltandc.org/kavango-zambezi-transfrontier-conservation-area-kaza-tfca/

15/07/2024

New Report raises serious questions over management of Victoria Falls World Heritage Site

New Report raises serious questions over management of Victoria Falls World Heritage Site - https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/07/new-report-raises-questions-over.html

14/07/2024

10/07/2024

Zimbabwe Park Authority release new Zambezi/Victoria Falls National Park General Management Plan - The Plan presents a new map showing a proposed revised WHS boundary and management zonation, and confirming the upstream riverside fringe as being in the red zone Highly Ecologically Sensitive Zone (HESZ) which prevents all new development. Why then, have ZimParks been authorising more and more tourism developments within this zone in recent years? Time to stop this madness...

Zimbabwe Park Authority release new Zambezi/Victoria Falls National Park General Management Plan (6th July 2024)

A new ten-year Zambezi/Victoria Falls National Park General Management Plan (2024-2034) was approved in April 2024 (ZPWMA, 2024). The Plan presents a new map showing a proposed revised WHS boundary and management zonation.

The map confirms upstream riverside fringe as being in the red zone Highly Ecologically Sensitive Zone (HESZ) which prevents all new development. This is a major win for our campaign against recent developments in this zone (KVFW, 2023). For the last few years Park Authorities, and the Director-General himself, have been claiming this area was part of the Medium ESZ (MESZ) and which therefore allowed suitable tourism development

Now that all parties agree that the area is in fact within the HESZ 'no new development' zone it leaves the obvious question as to what is to be done about the recent construction of the Baines Riverside Restaurant (opened in mid-2023) and Zambezi Drive 'Rock Pool' bar (also established during 2023) developments along the riverine fringe immediately upstream the Falls, and the proposed Riverside Tree Lodge and Kandahar Camp developments where concession agreements have been again been approved by Parks in areas supposedly protected under the HESZ and where development has yet to begin on the ground.

The area of all these developments is identified in the 2007 and 2016 JIMP documents as being within the HESZ (State Parties, 2007; 2016). According to the new map, and presumably new JIMP, the area remains in the HESZ. As these development concessions have been awarded in contravention of the agreed protections for the Site we believe the lease agreements made by the Park Authority with the relevent third parties must be immediately terminated, all trace of recent developments, where present, removed and the areas returned to their previous natural state. Anything short of this will be a mockery of National Park regulations, legal protections and World Heritage Site status.

Read more: https://www.keepvictoriafallswild.com/index.html

11/06/2024

Elephants call each other by unique names, study suggests -

Researchers found elephants have the rare ability among animals to address each other using name-like calls

05/06/2024

Focus On Victoria Falls As Unrealistic Government Target Drives Unsuitable Development Rush - https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/06/focus-on-victoria-falls-as-unrealistic.html

01/06/2024

Fossils found on the shoreline of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe represent a completely new dinosaur species. - only the fourth dinosaur to be named from Zimbabwe, following the descriptions of "Syntarsus" rhodesiensis in 1969, Vulcanodon karibaensis in 1972, and, most recently, Mbiresaurus raathi in 2022. The rocks yielding this new specimen date back to the Late Triassic period, approximately 210 million years ago.

Fossils found on the shoreline of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe represent a completely new dinosaur species. This remarkable find, named Musankwa sanyatiensis, marks only the fourth dinosaur species named from Zimbabwe. The research detailing this significant discovery is published in Acta Palaeontologica...

30/05/2024

The Leading Family Newspaper in Zimbabwe

24/05/2024

Concerns grow over costs and impacts of controversial Victoria Falls Cricket Stadium proposal

Concerns grow over costs and impacts of controversial Victoria Falls Cricket Stadium proposal - President claims development "will enhance the rich natural heritage" of the Falls - https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/05/concerns-grow-over-costs-and-impacts-of.html

23/05/2024

Livingstone to host KAZA TFCA Heads of State Summit on 31st May, 2024 at Avani Hotel - https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/05/zambia-to-host-kaza-tfca-heads-of-state.html

23/05/2024

Zimbabwe Government plans to develop Victoria Falls ignore impacts on World Heritage Site

Zimbabwe Government plans to develop Victoria Falls ignore impacts on World Heritage Site - Plans by the Zimbabwean Government to develop the Masuwe Special Economic Zone and Monde Tourism Town at Victoria Falls, part of a drive to develop a US$5 billion tourism economy by 2025, appear to ignore potential negative impacts on the Victoria Falls World Heritage Site. - https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/05/zimbabwe-government-plans-to-develop.html

16/05/2024

15/05/2024

Authorities Fail to Notify UNESCO of new developments at Victoria Falls - https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/05/authorities-fail-to-notify-unesco-of.html

Authorities Fail to Notify UNESCO of new developments at Victoria Falls - The managing authorities for the Mosi-oa-Tunya/Victoria Falls World Heritage Site have failed to notify UNESCO of recent and proposed tourism developments affecting the Site in their latest State of Conservation report. Read more - https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/05/authorities-fail-to-notify-unesco-of.html

14/05/2024

The Zambezi Society’s latest news THE BULLETIN Jan-April 2024 is out! Read it in your inbox or via the PDF link on our website news section here:- https://zamsoc.org/all-news/zamsoc-bulletin-jan-april-2024 . We are focusing and strengthening our Human Wildlife Co-existence work with communities and schools in the Charara/Kariba area; we’re printing awareness materials and planning to extend our Virtual Realty schools programme to other parts of the Zambezi Valley. We’ve more carnivore research lined up this year, and we welcome Zambia’s decision to withdraw the licence for the controversial copper mine opposite Mana Pools and Sapi. This is good news for conservation!

10/05/2024

09/05/2024

Uproar continues after Zimparks seals off Victoria Falls for private event with 4 days notice... ZimParks spokesperson confirms: "All we want is money" -https://vicfallsbitsnblogs.blogspot.com/2024/04/uproar-as-zimparks-seals-off-vic-falls.html

The Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority (Zimparks) sealed off the rainforest nestled at the heart of Victoria Falls from the...

20/04/2024