CHIZARIRA WILDERNESS SUPPORT PROJECT

MISSION STATEMENT

The aim of this project is to support and sustain the Chizarira Wilderness Region in Zimbabwe in three principal ways.

1 Wildlife protection

2 Game restocking programme ( black rhino and roan antelope)

3 Providing a stimulus to development and economic growth locally

 CHIZARIRA WILDERNESS REGION

The chief component of this region is the Chizarira National Park which lies in the remote North West of Zimbabwe. It is one of Southern Africa’s least known and least visited parks. It is also one of the most beautiful. There are green gorges, dense woodlands, floodplains and mountain, each sheltering its own mix of flora and fauna. The high escarpment views, the silence and the isolation are as great an attraction as the abundant wild life.

The Park (some 200000 hectares) is contiguous with vast hunting concession areas in the surrounding lowlands and also with low productivity agricultural lands inhabited by Tonga peoples to the North and Ndebele Peoples to the South.

Immediately to the north we have access to a small tourist lodge, which occupies a concession of some 1500 hectares, large enough to provide a focus for conservancy work

 
     
   
   
  The lodge and its concession are run under Zimbabwe’s Community Areas Management Programme For Indigenous Resources “CAMPFIRE”  

CHIZARIRA IS ONE OF THE 4 RIVETS THAT HOLD TOGETHER THE WILDERNESS REGION OR THE ZAMBESI VALLEY. ITS CONTINUED AND HEALTHY EXISTENCE IS VITAL TO THE WELL BEING OF THE PEOPLES AND WILD LIFE OF THIS VAST AREA

 

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Background

The Chizarira region is experiencing a number of problems. Game poaching is one of these and has led to the extinction of one of the largest black rhino populations in Africa. Commercial poachers come from as far afield as Zambia but there is also pressure from local people who feel the need to hunt for food and who at present derive little economic benefit from the Park. The park is under policed and the local rangers are short staffed and under equipped.

Apart from the absence of rhino there is some evidence that the region suffers other wild life imbalances, such as diminished numbers of roan and sable and also lion. Roan antelope are an endangered species in Zimbabwe.

More detailed knowledge of the region is necessary for improved management.

 
   

 

   
 

PROJECT PROGRAMS

1 Securing Chizarira National Park so that it can be upgraded to an Intensive Protection Zone (IPZ)

a) Restoration and extension of the Park's roads and communications.

b) Equipment for rangers; vehicles, fuel, radios, GPS, etc.

c) Community outreach including snare sweeps.

d) Promoting local employment.

2 Restocking

a) Black Rhino: the Zimbabwean Parks and Wildlife Authority have indicated that once Chizpro's poaching prevention and general securing projects are completed, they will create an IPZ in Chizarira National Park and relocate black rhino there from other less suitable conservation areas within Zimbabwe.

b)Other Endangered Species: Roan antelope are endangered in the region. Chizpro will initiate a roan breeding program on the lodge concession area, leading to restocking of roan inside the national park.

3 Community Projects


a) Chizpro will invest in local education to include: assistance to the area primary school and creating scholarships and bursaries for higher education.


b) Healthcare: a mobile clinic will be established for the immediate area.


c) Local employment in Chizpro programs including snare sweeps, road building, construction, guiding, cultural tourism and other projects


4 Tourism


The existing lodge and one very small camp on the southern border provide the only tourist accommodation, apart from the necessarily very limited camping facilities within the Park. Thus the flow of tourists is small, not least because of the expense and difficulty of getting there. There is however enough capacity to absorb larger numbers of visitors and this could come from a new source of visitors attracted by the Project’s activities. There would be obvious financial and social benefits- increased park fees, increased local employment, more use of local produce, encouragement of local crafts and the possibility of setting up training schemes (tourism management, wild life management and so on) as well as a revenue stream for Chizpro that is independent of grants and donations.