Protecting vulnerable habitat within the Lower Zambezi Valley through collaboration

The lower Zambezi Valley constitutes >50,000 km2 of wilderness, spanning Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. This grant supports the work of the Zambezi Society to help protect a key area at the heart of this wilderness. Zambezi Society is working with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority to help secure the Charara Safari Area and to tackle threats such as bushmeat poaching and deforestation. This work could have significant potential to allow for the creation of a second major tourism hub in Zimbabwe, due to its proximity to Lake Kariba and the presence of an international airport in Kariba town. In early 2020, the LRF issued a second grant to Zambezi Society as emergency support to the Zimbabwe Parks Authority. The Zimbabwe Parks Authority is facing a budgetary crisis as a result of the cessation of the tourism in the country due to the COVID-19 crisis.  

A third, larger grant of $250,000 was issued to Zambezi Society in early 2021to strengthen field operations and anti-poaching over the next three years.